The Alternative Star Wars Saga
by The Mike
Summary: Star Wars A/U: Anakin isn't Vader, someone else is.


Star Wars: AU  
  
Episode 1: Eyes on Me  
  
  
Anakin disengaged his lightsaber, the blue beam fading with a sharp hiss. He slumped against a slim, square column, sweat sliding down his forehead. He looked up at his equally fatigued opponent, who was a short young man, very thin and dressed entirely in black. His opponent looked back at him, and smiled.   
  
"That's what I call a duel..." Micold said, grinning.   
  
"Heh. How'd you manage to keep up with me?" Anakin replied.   
  
"I didn't. I just happened to have my saber in the right place at the right time."   
  
"I see..."   
  
Their heads whirled round suddenly, as a bearded and robed figure strode into the room.   
  
"Anakin."   
  
"Yes, master?"   
  
"I was watching...try not to be so aggressive in your attacks, it was worrying some of the other masters."   
  
"Sorry, master."   
  
"And as for you, Micold...well done. Not many can ever hold The Chosen One to a draw. Your training is coming along nicely, despite your health problems."   
  
Anakin looked back at Micold, who simply shrugged his shoulders.   
  
"Don't ask."   
  
Obi-Wan smiled at the two padawans. "And I have some good news for both of you. Micold, your master is on his way to a full recovery after your..accident."   
  
"I hope he's not mad at me..."   
  
"Of course not. It was an accident. These things happen, even in training."   
  
"I thought he'd sent me to train with Anakin to punish me for it."   
  
"Heh, hardly. Anakin was the only one who you'd be able to fight without giving a concussion...those training sabers still smart when they touch you...Anyway, Anakin, we've been given a new mission."   
  
Anakin groaned.   
  
"It's a good mission this time, my padawan...we're going to the sovereign system of Naboo."   
  
Anakin's eyes lit up. "What?!"   
  
"Ha. I had a feeling you'd be happy about that."   
  
"What's our mission there?"   
  
"We have been requested by her royal highness to escort her and her handmaidens during an official engagemen--"   
  
"A what?!"   
  
"Not that type of engagement, Anakin...she's making a public announce of some sort, and wishes the Jedi to be there to ensure her security throughout it."   
  
"I see...stop laughing, Mic."   
  
"I'm sorry," said Micold through his laughter, "but they way you act with that Queen is so funny, Ani. It's so obvious how you feel, yet you still try to hide it..why?"   
  
"I don't try to hide anything!I don't feel anything!We're...old friends...and...oh forget it."   
  
"It'll never happen anyway..."   
  
"You're just jealous because you can't get any females to even speak to you."   
  
"At least I don't set my sights too high...although sometimes you kinda stare at people too lo---"   
  
"Mic!"   
  
"Sorry...heh. I've seen the holos she sends you sometimes....why do you watch them with the sound off?"   
  
Anakin looked shocked. "I-I don't have the sound off...it's just...really low so spies can't hear!!And just where do you set your sights, Mic?"   
  
"Oh...I kinda like her servants more..."   
  
"The handmaidens?"   
  
"Well....one of 'em."   
  
"Oooh...who?Sabe?"   
  
"No...I don't know her name...I've seen her bring you messages when the Queen's here for senate meetings. She's the cute one with long brown hair..."   
  
"Padme?!"   
  
"I think that's her name...something beginning in a P and ending in E anyway."   
  
Obi-Wan looked at Micold, then turned his gaze to Anakin. He couldn't help smile at the horrified look on his padawan's face.   
  
**  
  
The silver ramp lowered with an ominous hiss. Steam sprayed from overhanging vents as the hydraulics lowered it to the surface of the landing pad. Three figures, in dark robes and hoods, strode up the ramp and boarded the ship. They were soon followed by a small, green skinned creature, and a tall, smarmy politician.   
  
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Micold muttered to Anakin.   
  
"You're just scared you'll step on master Yoda again..."   
  
"No, it's the Chancellor...why is he coming?"   
  
"He was invited."   
  
The two padawans strode along a narrow corridor, looking for their cabin.   
  
"I know, that's the problem...it must be quite serious if he's going..."   
  
"Don't worry, Micold, it's probably just another darn celebration she's having...I have lost count of how many times they've had a party over the tenth anniversary of the battle of Naboo..." replied Anakin, his voice becoming a little frustrated.   
  
"Yeah, it must be awful getting invited to parties all the time..."   
  
Anakin sighed. "It's not my fault if everyone thinks I'm special, ok? I don't want to get into *another* fight over this just now. Ok?"   
  
"Ok...."   
  
Micold and Anakin finally came to a stop outside their cabin. The door opened just as the ship lurched slightly, indicating it had left the atmosphere of the capital planet. Anakin turned to his friend. "Micold, I need to talk to master Kenobi about some private stuff....could you wait here till I'm done?"   
  
"Sure."   
  
"Thanks."   
  
Micold walked into the small cabin as Anakin turned and strode straight to the cockpit. He slumped in a chair behind the pilot and beside his master. "Hi, Ric. Has her highness got you running public transports now?"   
  
Ric turned and smiled at Anakin before returning his attention to the controls. "Well she wants you to get there in one piece. I'm the best pilot they have."   
  
"Force help the Naboo..." muttered Obi-Wan.   
  
"Very funny master...."   
  
"You seem a little peeved, padawan...is something wrong?"   
  
"Yes...it's Micold..."   
  
"Ah, yes. You shouldn't let it get to you that he's almost as good with a lightsaber as you are, he still has a lot of problems..."   
  
"Yes, master, but its not just that..."   
  
"Padme?"   
  
Anakin sighed. "...yes, master."   
  
Obi-Wan chuckled a little. "What was so hard about that, Anakin? We all know how you feel anyway."   
  
"She doesn't."   
  
"Don't be so sure, Anakin. Her highness is very perceptive." Ric felt he had to contribute to the conversation somehow.   
  
"Oh, thanks, Ric...."   
  
"Hah. Calm down, padawan. I'm sure she doesn't know. It's very difficult to see what's right under your nose."   
  
"Indeed it is, Master Kenobi," Palpatine cut in. The two Jedi jumped and then attempted to bow so quickly that they almost banged their heads together.   
  
"Chancellor, what a pleasant suprise!" the two Jedi chorused.   
  
"Really? I take it Master Yoda never gave you the extra orders to protect me as well as the Queen?"   
  
"Uh...." Obi-Wan glanced at his apprentice.   
  
"Oh yeah, Yoda did mention that...sorry, master."   
  
Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin, why do you always get side-tracked with Padme? She really isn't good for you...perhaps it'd be better if Micold actually managed to woo her away from you."   
  
Anakin's head dropped, and he looked almost hurt. "But...master...."   
  
"Anakin, it was a joke."   
  
"Oh..." Anakin perked up a little.   
  
"But please don't get into any fights with Micold over this?"   
  
Palpatine smiled and spoke with apparent curiosity in his voice. "Ah, young Micold...I have heard of him. Is it true he managed to hold Anakin here to a draw in lightsaber training?"   
  
"He got lucky..." mumbled Anakin.   
  
"He got good, Anakin."   
  
"Why did we bring him anyway, master?"   
  
"Because there's no-one else to look after him. With his master injured I was given responsibility of him. Now I have two teenage, love sick, aggressive padawans to look after and control....why do the council do this to me?"   
  
Anakin grinned at his master. "You seem to have picked up your master's habit of collecting stray, pathetic life-forms who're more trouble than they're worth."   
  
"I think you're right, padawan."   
  
**   
  
The sleek, silvery ship settled onto the marble floor of the narrow hangar. Anakin always wondered how they managed to fit the Royal Starcruiser into the tiny hangar and still have room for Bravo Flight's fighters. The ramp lowered with a hiss, and a row of figures in bright crimson robes stood to attention as Chancellor Palpatine stepped out of the ship. He smirked to himself as he saw his welcoming comittee, but then noticed that there was a handmaiden and a Queen missing. He stepped to the side as the three Jedi made their erratic way down the ramp, Micold continually trying to trip Anakin. The Jedi finally reached the foot of the ramp, and saw two other figures running towards them. The Queen, dressed in a bright red dress that made Obi-Wan feel a little dizzy, stopped in front of the Chancellor and bowed slightly. "Chancellor, I must apologise for our tardyness. We had a minor drama to deal with."   
  
Padme fell in to the end of the row of red-clad handmaidens. She glanced at Anakin, and noticed another young man beside him, dressed in fitted black and so thin he looked like a skeleton. She didn't remember inviting him. Obi-Wan was behind them, paying close attention to Sabe, who was fulfilling the Queen's role. Despite the fact that many people knew of Padme's decoy, they still managed to get away with it. People seemed to prefer Sabe anyway...She noticed the Chancellor appeared concerned. "Nothing too serious I hope."   
  
"Not really, Padme here just had a slight accident."   
  
Padme sunk her head further into her hood. "I'm sorry, your highness." She tried to avoid eye contact with Anakin and the other padawan, both of whom were now staring at her.   
  
"It's alright, you didn't know that tile was loose."   
  
Padme kept her eyes on the floor. She had no idea why she'd been feeling so nervous this morning. She'd managed to trip over a total of seven times since she fell out of bed. Well, she had an idea, but that couldn't be true....could it?   
  
The Queen's gaze returned to the Chancellor and the three Jedi. Then she noticed a small, green skinned creature hobbling slowly down the ramp. She glanced at her handmaidens, and two at the end furthest from her and Padme (who didn't remember inviting this creature either) ran over to assist the...thing. Rabe plucked it up and carried it like a baby, while Yane began to tickle it's large ears. The three Jedi could barely mask their amusement. The Queen turned back to the Chancellor. "Unfortunately the media has been made aware of my planned announcement, and holo-cams and journalists shall arrive tomorrow to broadcast it to the galaxy."   
  
"I see...which network?"   
  
"The Coruscant News Network will be there. I invited you all here a day early so I could inform you of the announcement before the rest of the galaxy hears of it. We are holding a special luncheon tomorrow for you and the other guests, where I shall unofficially inform you of my plans. I trust the Jedi can control their curiosity long enough to not pry anything from my mind?" She glared at Obi-Wan.   
  
"Certainly, your highness."   
  
"Excellent. You are welcome to our planet and our palace. Please make yourselves comfortable. My servants shall see to you." She was about to turn away, when Micold spoke up.   
  
"Uh...do we get to choose the servants?"   
  
The Queen smiled at him, and several handmaidens giggled. She turned without answering, and the handmaidens formed a procession behind her. Anakin frowned at Micold as he ran off to the head of the procession and fell into step beside Padme. Obi-Wan put a restraining hand on his padawan's shoulder and the two walked along at the end of the line, beside the pair of handmaidens and their green friend.   
  
"Enjoying your stay, master?" Obi-Wan asked.   
  
"Jedi seek not enjoyment!Jedi seek...ohh..Jedi here to the Queen protect!"   
  
Yoda made a sound that resembled purring as the handmaidens tickled him. Anakin sighed, and looked darkly at Micold, who was now trying to start a conversation with Padme.   
  
"Uh...hi."   
  
She turned her head to look at him. She noticed the same, ice-blue eyes that Anakin had. And the same hair...in fact this boy looked like a shorter and thinner version of Anakin, only less....she couldn't believe she was thinking this word about Anakin...less *handsome*. "Hello."   
  
"I..hope you don't mind me coming along...my master was injured and Obi-Wan's looking after me just now."   
  
"That's alright. It's a big palace, there's plenty of room."   
  
"Thank you. Um..."   
  
"Yes?"   
  
Micold tried to think of a way to further the conversation as they entered the main palace through a large blast-door at the side of the hangar. He could sense Anakin Skywalker's scowl following him, and wondered what had put him in a bad mood this time.   
  
**   
  
The throne room was dark, cool and shady, as the hot sun was high above Theed. It was very early afternoon, and the handmaidens had seen to it that the guests had settled into the palace. Padme, having finished preparing a small cot in the nursery, had came to find Master Yoda. He was sitting in the Queen's lap, making that strange purring noise as she played with his head and ears. The Queen watched her enter. "Yes, Padme?"   
  
"Most of the guests are settled...shall I show Master Yoda to his room?"   
  
"No, he's fine for now...and I have a small errand for you."   
  
"Sabe...."   
  
The Queen glared at Padme, then glanced at two figures entering the room behind her. Padme turned, saw the Jedi padawans, and faced the Queen again. "Sorry...your highness..."   
  
"Where is Jar-Jar?"   
  
Padme grimaced at the mention of the name. "He was not on Coruscant...I suppose he never received his invitation...I believe he is in Otoh Gunga, the senate is on a short vacation."   
  
"Very well...find him, and give him his invitation personally."   
  
Padme looked up, horrified. "But..how am I supposed to get to Otah Gunga...your highness?"   
  
The Queen addressed one of the two Jedi who were bickering quietly at the back of the room. "Anakin! How do you get to Otah Gunga from here?"   
  
"Uh...you swim, I guess, unless you've managed to find an underwater transport..."   
  
"Our only transport is the Bongo brought here by Master Kenobi...and it's still being repaired after the last time you were here."   
  
"Sorry, your highness, I just got a little carried awa--"   
  
The Queen cut him off, looking down at Padme. "Take these two Jedi with you. Jar-Jar is a friend and should be present at the unofficial announcement."   
  
Padme looked at the floor and sighed. "Yes, your highness." She bowed quickly and turned on her heel, stomping across the floor to the padawans angrily. Micold and Anakin both stopped their arguing and smiled at her.   
  
"Do you two find this funny?"   
  
Anakin stopped smiling. "Uh..no, of course not....we're just happy to be of service."   
  
"Yeah, absolutely!" Micold agreed.   
  
"Whatever...what are you two here for anyway?"   
  
"I was giving Micold a tour of the place," answered Anakin.   
  
"Yeah, this palace is huge!"   
  
Padme smiled at his enthusiasm. "Well, I hope you feel comfortable in it. I'm sorry we had to give you two a room to share...I guess we didn't have as much room as I though..."   
  
"Nah, we're fine, aren't we Ani?"   
  
"Uh...yeah, I guess..but why's our room in the servant's wing?"   
  
Padme's smile raised to a grin. "Because the handmaidens insisted on it. We're soooo excited about having some Jedi to play with."   
  
Micold smirked. "Well the Queen seems to have found a Jedi to play with...."   
  
Anakin rolled his eyes. "I don't see how someone so short can have so many female admirers...."   
  
"Well, most of the handmaidens, and the Queen, think short people are cute." Answered Padme. Micold grinned. Anakin frowned. "Aw, what's wrong, Ani?" Padme asked. "You used to be short and cute."   
  
"And I'm not cute anymore?"   
  
"Well...um..." She looked at Micold, then at Anakin, then back again. "Come on, let's go. We have a mission to complete. Go get changed, and we'll meet in the main plaza in ten minutes."   
  
Anakin raised an eyebrow. "You'll never be able to change in ten minutes." Padme stuck her tongue out at him as she left the throne room.   
  
**   
  
Twelve minutes later, the two Jedi padawans waited in Theed's central plaza, sitting on the steps of the Queen's architecturally beautiful palace. Anakin sighed, "I was right. It takes her almost an hour to get a damn dress on, even with a dozen handmaidens helping! We could be here for a while, Mic."   
  
"The handmaidens help each other dress too?"   
  
Anakin winced. He'd still not informed Mic about Padme's identity. "Uh...sorta..."   
  
"I don't think she'll be that long...if we're going to have to swim to this Gungan place then why would she wear a big dress?"   
  
Anakin smiled at a thought. "Good question. Why've you still got your robes on anyway?"   
  
"I...get cold easily."   
  
"Yeah I know but it's hot out here. I've just got these shorts and my shirt, and I come from a much warmer planet. I should be the one feeling cold here....you're not going, are you?"   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"You still afraid of water?"   
  
"Nope. I'm...fine."   
  
"Good."   
  
"I can't swim though."   
  
Anakin cursed. "Damn."   
  
"Sorry..." muttered Micold.   
  
"Well the Queen ordered it, so you've got to go."   
  
"I guess....Can I hang on to you?"   
  
"No way!"   
  
"I'll hold on to Padme then, I suppose..."   
  
A look of shock and anger flashed across Anakin's face, but faded into amusement, "Hah! As if any girl would let you hang onto them."   
  
"Hey, I almost beat the Chosen One! Girls should be dying to meet me!"   
  
Anakin scowled at being reminded of the lightsaber fight. Maybe he was losing his touch. Or he was distracted...He decided he was distracted, how else could the little runt have held him to a draw. It was all Padme's fault...wait, he was *not* distracted by Padme! It wasn't like that! Well...ok it was. At least he wasn't losing it.   
  
"Ani?"   
  
"I told you, don't call me that!"   
  
"When?"   
  
Anakin sighed and looked up. "Mic---" He spluttered, finding himself staring into a smiling, angelic face. "Oh, sorry, Padme...I didn't see you there."   
  
Micold snorted, "Some Jedi you are..."   
  
"I wasn't the one who said he was missing her already!"   
  
"What?! I said nothing like that! Don't listen to him, Padme. Nice robes, by the way...."   
  
"Oh, thank you," said Padme, twirling on the spot at the foot of the stone steps. Her simple, silken robe was a brighter shade of crimson than the thicker robes she'd worn when welcoming the Chancellor. The sun reflected blindingly off it. "What do you think of it, Ani?"   
  
"It's...bright." He answered, shielding his eyes. "Is it waterproof?"   
  
"No..this bag is though," she said, patting a clear, thick-plastic carry-all hanging off her arm.   
  
Anakin looked confused. "So....?"   
  
"So I'll take this off and put it in once we reach the swamp."   
  
"..oh.." He glanced at Micold, who was staring at the ground with very wide eyes. "You ok, Mic?"   
  
"Uh...sure. I s-suppose we better get moving?"   
  
Padme put a hand on his head. "It's ok, I know all about it." She said, gently stroking his hair.   
  
"Oh..." he closed his eyes, happy at the attention he was receiving just now, but worried that she'd get mad like anyone else he'd liked did. And also wondering how she could have found out. Was she that perceptive? Maybe she should've been a Jedi...   
  
"Don't worry. I know it seems scary, but with this breathing apparatus in the bag you'll be fine. Just hang onto me while we're swimming...I'll try not to kick you, ok?"   
  
Anakin sniggered. Mic ignored him, feeling relieved. "Sure. Thanks."   
  
**   
  
The trio reached the edge of the swamp, their boots squelching through the muddy ground. Padme let the bag slide off her arm and opened it. She slipped off the robe and folded it carefully before dropping it in, then turned to Micold. "Would you like to put your robe and lightsaber in here?It'll keep them dry...is the sun too bright for you?"   
  
"Uh....not exactly..."   
  
"Then why have you shut your eyes...Anakin, stop it!"   
  
Anakin was sitting on a rock, shaking with laughter. "I thought you'd be the last person who wouldn't want to see Padme in a bi---"   
  
"Shh, Ani!" Padme snapped. "Mic, it'll be ok. It's only water, nothing to be frightened of."   
  
Anakin rolled his eyes. "It's not the water, I promise you."   
  
"Anakin, shut up." Padme and Micold chorused. Mic opened his eyes and looked up at Padme's smiling face. "Sorry..It's just unknightly to watch a woman undress."   
  
"It never stopped me..." muttered Anakin. Padme blushed slightly and bit her tongue to prevent herself from swearing at him. Micold pulled his robe off and dropped it into the bag on top of Padme's.   
  
"You could have folded it," she said.   
  
"Sorry, the Jedi never taught me housekeeping skills. They were too busy honing my combat skills..."   
  
"I thought the Jedi were supposed to be mostly peaceful..."   
  
"Usually, but they're so terrified of these rumours of the Sith returning they're making their best pupils into war machines."   
  
"You're one of their best pupils?"   
  
"Maybe...not as good as Anakin, though. No-one's as good as Mr.Popularity over there. We're continually reminded of that." He lowered his voice to a dark tone, "and I *hate* it."   
  
Padme looked around a little nervously. "But..I thought he was your best friend."   
  
"He is. It's not his fault he's so wonderful. But I'm tired of everyone almost worshipping him. When I do well at something, they say it was good because it was almost as good as Anakin could do it. When I drew in lightsaber combat with him, everyone was amazed that I'd managed to *draw* with him. Because he's the Chosen One. Not because they thought I was good."   
  
"I'm sure the Jedi appreciate you as much as Anakin. He's just s--"   
  
"Special." Micold finished with disgust in his voice.   
  
"I'm sorry...It must be hard for you..I know how you feel though. I'm always being compared to the Queen."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Because I look like her, I guess. Without the make-up. We're so similar in everything we do that a lot of people expect me to act like her all the time...I hardly ever get to giggle like a little girl because 'The Queen wouldn't do that'."   
  
"Oh..sorry."   
  
"It's ok, don't worry about it." She put a hand on his shoulder and lifted the bag with the other. Micold noticed she'd forgot to close it, so did so for her with a discreet Force push. She heard the zipper closing. "Oops I forgot about that. Thanks...anyway, let's get going."   
  
Anakin stood up from his rock, scowling to himself. He walked ahead of them, wading into the swamp and until it was up to his chest, then putting his breathing machine in his mouth before ducking under the water and swimming towards Otah Gunga. Micold and Padme waded after him, and stopped once the water reached their necks. Padme handed a breathing machine to Micold. "Just hold onto me, and keep breathing through your mouth, and you'll be fine."   
  
Micold nodded. "Uh...where'll I h-hold you?"   
  
Padme didn't say anything for a few seconds, thinking to herself. Finally she said "Just hold onto my waist, I guess."   
  
"Uh...ok."   
  
She bit her own breathing apparatus and ducked her head under the water, leaving her back arched slightly above the surface until Micold gingerly put his hands around her. She kicked forward and dragged him towards the Gungan City.   
  
**   
  
The place was dark. And very damp. And humid. It was odd for a place with transparent walls to feel so...clostraphobic, but Otah Gunga was deep under the swamp, and cut off from sunlight. Despite the humidity, Padme still shivered a little as she entered into the presence of Boss Nass. She wasn't certain, but he appeared to have put on some weight. "Your honour, it is a pleasure to meet you again." She hoped he wouldn't address her by her real name, or else the others present who didn't know who she was would find out. Micold would find out. He seemed to hate popular or special people, and she certainly didn't want him to end up hating her...   
  
"Padme?" Anakin whispered, trying to get her attention back from where-ever she'd been.   
  
She shook the thoughts out of her head and looked back up at Boss Nass. "Um...we have come looking for Senator Binks. Queen Amidala has an announcement to make and wished to invite him to a luncheon in the Theed Palace tomorrow to tell him beforehand. She considers him a friend."   
  
Boss Nass made a clicking sound, then spoke with his rumbling yet somehow jolly voice "Jar-Jar ist gone to Theed already. We recieved a hello communi...hallo...holo message from da Naboo Queen 'erself."   
  
Padme frowned. "She said to deliver it personally...."   
  
"But you ist too late, Naboo. Jar-Jar left earlier on un Bongo."   
  
Padme clenched her fists. "I see...thank you, your honour." She bowed briefly then turned on her heel and stormed out of the large bubble. Anakin was waiting outside for her, and noticed her angry look.   
  
"Something wrong?"   
  
"Yes, something's wrong! Sabe sent me here for no good reason! The power's going to her head...how dare she order me around like this?!"   
  
"Whoa..calm down, Pad..."   
  
"Don't call me Pad, Ani!"   
  
"Don't call me Ani then!"   
  
"Fine, I won't!"   
  
"Good. Now keep your voice down or Micold will find out about who you really are..."   
  
Padme froze. "He...went in with me...Where is he?"   
  
"Still in there, I think...oh here he is. What took you so long?"   
  
"I was trying to figure out what language they speak," answered Micold, striding from the Boss' hall towards them.   
  
Anakin sighed. "They speak Basic, Mic."   
  
"Didn't sound basic to me..ooh." Micold stopped by a strange quadruped, and began patting its snout, oblivious suddenly to his surroundings.   
  
Anakin sighed again, then turned back to Padme. "Explain what happened, Padme. Calmly this time."   
  
She pouted at him. "I had to swim through a swamp only to find she'd already sent the message to Jar-Jar this morning! She loves the chance to order me around....hmph."   
  
"Well, look on the brightside, Pad. You got some exercise and fresh ai---"   
  
"Are you saying I need exercise?!"   
  
"No! I was just saying it...oh forget it. At least you got to see a cute Jedi in swimming shorts." He stuck his tongue out at her. She turned away from him and looked at Micold, who was now trying to speak Basic to the creature.   
  
"Yes, I suppose I did. Mic!! We're going back." She turned back to Anakin and stuck her own tongue out at him. "If you weren't so good at everything maybe you'd get to hold onto me too, Ani."   
  
"I thought we said not to call each other by pet names."   
  
"I changed my mind. You'd make a cute pet anyways."   
  
He rolled his eyes. "As if I'd wanna hold onto you anyway."   
  
She winked at him. "I don't have to be a Jedi to see what's going on in that blonde little head of yours."   
  
"What?"   
  
"I can tell, Ani. Just remember, I can tell."   
  
"There's nothing to tell! I'm not a kid anymore..."   
  
She sighed. "Fine, have it your way." She grabbed Micold's arm and locked her own around it. "Mic, let's go." Micold smirked at Anakin as she dragged him towards the exit to the city.   
  
**   
  
Darkness had descended over Theed. A thick, grey cloud slithered in front of the moon, and the stars burned in the sky. Her highness sat bolt upright in the throne, nodding at a crimson-robed figure as it entered the chamber. Under the hood was a worried face. "Your highness, there is still no sign of the Jedi or of Padme."   
  
The Queen closed her eyes. They'd been missing since late morning. It seemed this trick she was playing had backfired severely. She should've known better...She sighed. "Keep searching around the swamps. Any news from Otah Gunga."   
  
"None, your highness....and we cannot continue to search the swamps. It is far too dark t---" She was cut off as another handmaiden strode angrily past her, in what was originally a very bright and silken red robe. Padme stormed towards the throne, trailing mud across the floor.   
  
"Your highness!" She didn't bother bowing.   
  
"Ah, Padme...its good to see you and the Jedi," she nodded at the two padawans standing respectfully (and slightly fearfully) at the rear of the chamber by the doors, "are safe and well. We were starting to get wo---"   
  
"Why did you send me on a pointless errand like that?!It wasn't very funny...your highness..."   
  
The Queen smiled at her servant. "Watch your manners when addressing the Queen, young lady. I may send you on any missions I wish. You are filthy, young handmaiden. What on Naboo happened to get you in such a state?"   
  
Padme mumbled through clenched teeth. "Anakin kept stepping on my robe and making me fall in the mud..."   
  
Sabe giggled, then looked sternly at Padme again. "Go get cleaned up. And take those Jedi with you."   
  
"As you wish, your majesty," Padme said, bowing very shallowly and spinning on her heel. She walked to the two Jedi, stepped on Anakin's foot and pushed open the door, leaving the chamber. Micold laughed as Anakin's face filled with pain, then followed the handmaiden. Anakin finally managed to recover, and limped out after Micold, leaving The Queen and her original messenger, who burst out laughing.   
  
**   
  
The moon was still covered, and the windows shook and clanged as blasts of rain rattled off them. Theed's storm season had arrived early. Padme sighed, pulled a towel around herself and hoped to the Force that it wouldn't rain on her announcement tomorrow. Head-pieces became even heavier when wet, though they kept her hair dry. She stepped out of the bathroom and into the even darker bedroom. There were two dark, indistinct rectangles on the floor, which were the beds. It certainly wasn't as comfortable as her royal bedroom, or as roomy. She had to share with Yane, who was busy somewhere playing with Yoda no doubt. At least it wasn't as bad as the slave quarters on Tatooine...She sat on the edge of the bed and looked towards the door. Her heart stopped. Standing there, right at the foot of her bed, was a thin, near skeletal, very pale figure. Standing there, silently. She dropped her towel and screamed. The figure shut down its ice-blue eyes, and screamed back. She slid back, and her spine hammered off the headboard at the top of her bed. She continued to scream, and a shaft of light speared through the dark room as Panaka, captain of the Queen's card, rushed in. The light blinded her momentarily, and when she opened her eyes again she found the room was fully lit, with Panaka and that young Jedi Padawan, Micold, standing at the foot of her bed. Micold could see the light through his eye lids, noticed the screaming had stopped, and opened his eyes again. "Padme, I'm sorry I--ack!" He clamped them shut again. She blushed, but out of embarrassment for mistaking the padawan for a ghost. She hadn't remembered about the towel yet. She looked at Panaka, who was glancing nervously around the room. "What's wrong, your highness? Is this Jedi harrassing you?"   
  
"I'm sorry captain, I mistook him for a ghost...would you believe something like that? It's been such a long day...Are you ok Mic? Hope I didn't frighten you..."   
  
Panaka nodded to her, turned and left the room. Micold opened his eyes again, then closed them again. "Uh...Padme?There's something I need to ask you."   
  
Padme grimaced. He'd found out. Why did Panaka insist on addressing her like royalty all the time? It didn't help her security much. "Yes?"   
  
"Why're you...uh...why's your towel on the floor?"   
  
Her face flushed, and she reached down and snatched the towel up, wrapping it round herself quickly. "Oh, I'm soooo sorry, Mic...You gave me such a fright I dropped it."   
  
"Oh...sorry." He opened his eyes again, and let out a sigh of relief, and partial disappointment. "I'm really sorry...I just came to say goodnight."   
  
"Oh..that's ok. Goodnight, Mic."   
  
He nodded. "Goodnight, your highness."   
  
"What'd you call me?"   
  
"Just kidding. I know that people seem to get confused between you and the Queen a lot. I hope Anakin doesn't do that...he's in her chambers just now...he's finally found the courage to admit his feelings..."   
  
Padme jumped up, almost losing her towel again. "What?!"   
  
"I wish I had the courage to do the same," Micold mumbled to himself."   
  
"Anakin's going to tell the Queen he loves her?"   
  
"Yeah, I suppose..."   
  
"I've got to go see this! Hand me a dress out of that wardrobe to your left there, please?"   
  
"Uh...which one"   
  
"Any dress! I have to get there!"   
  
"No, I meant which wardrobe. There's a couple.."   
  
"Any of them, just hand me something!"   
  
"Ok..." he pulled out a short, lime coloured dress and threw it carefully to Padme. She pulled it on over her towel, then let that drop off her beneath it.   
  
"Thank you, Mic."   
  
She rushed past him out of the room, looking like some kind of elf, her damp, dark brown hair trailing behind her as the wind caught it. Micold sighed. Anakin'd done it again. He'd taken the lime-light off him. He'd managed to become the centre of attention even when Micold was the only one around. Damn Chosen One.   
  
**   
  
Anakin sat on the edge of the huge, spongy mattress of the Queen's Royal Bed. Her highness had gone into the bathroom to wash off her make-up, though Anakin couldn't sense where she or anyone else was. He felt so nervous that his Force senses were going haywire, and not even The Chosen One could predict how she'd take his announcement. He leaned back on the bed, stared at the ceiling, and sighed. Then he sat bolt upright at hearing a door fly open, and a handmaiden burst into the room in a strange, lime dress. He shrugged and lay back down again. She leaned back against the door frame, catching her breath and searching the room for something. Another door beeped as it unlocked, and then the Queen strode out and dropped onto the bed beside Anakin. She sighed. "Sorry I took so long...damn make-up. I swear, one day this stuff will do permanent damage to my skin. Anyway...what did you want to tell me, Ani?" She placed a delicate hand on his chest.   
  
"Uh...I just....ok, this is gonna be real hard for me to say and probably as hard for you to hear but...here goes...I love you."   
  
Anakin heard a gasp. That didn't seem to be a good sign. Her hand left him the Queen sat up almost violently. Anakin grimaced. He'd screwed up agai---   
  
"What are you doing in here?" The Queen's irritated voice cut through his thoughts. He sat up, and followed her gaze to the doorway, where the handmaiden was. He'd forgotten about her. He'd not had a good look at her the first time around, and now he couldn't see her face, as her hands covered it. She sobbed softly, spun around and raced from the room, lime dress and chocolate brown hair trailing behind her body as she ran so quickly the wind caught them. Anakin glanced back at the Queen.   
  
"Who was that?" he asked.   
  
The Queen turned to him, her face a mixture of concern and joy. "Padme."   
  
Anakin's face became flooded with confusion. "But...aren't you...oh sith!"   
  
**   
  
Micold stood where he had been several minutes ago, at the foot of Padme's bed. The lights were still on in the room, and the other handmaiden she was sharing with had not returned. He wondered to himself why Padme was so interested in seeing Anakin tell the Queen how he felt. It had been so obvious...but Micold was a Jedi, and a good one at that, so maybe these things weren't so easy for normal people to see. "Normal," he spat the word out with disgust. He hated that word. He'd never be a normal person, due to his Jedi traits, but would never be a normal Jedi either. He didn't fit in anywhere, no-one seemed able to accept him. He contemplated why. Could it be his appearance? Padme wasn't the first to mistake him for someone dead....There was a metallic hiss as the door slid open, and Padme raced in so quickly that the door didn't have time to open fully. She caught her foot on in and fell forward. If Micold hadn't been a Jedi she'd have landed on her head on the marble floor, but he was, so she landed in his arms, her face slamming against his own. "Sorry..you ok?"   
  
She looked straight ahead, into his eyes, tears streaking her cheeks. She tried to say something but couldn't get any sound out. Micold looked straight back at her, his own eyes filled with sadness. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you...I was trying to catch you when you tripped."   
  
She shook her head, indicating that wasn't the problem. He was about to ask what happened, when she put her own arms around him and buried her head under his chin. He looked around, more confused than Jar-Jar in an etiquette meeting, then decided to make the best of the situation, stroking Padme's still-damp hair gently with one hand and her back with the other. He tried whispering something comforting, but he didn't really know what the problem was, and didn't want to start lying to her by saying "It's alright" when it could easily not be. They stood, locked together, for several more minutes until Padme finally pulled herself away and threw herself onto her bed. Micold, disappointed that what seemed like eternal bliss had only lasted what felt like three seconds, kneeled at the side of the bed by her face. "Will you be ok?"   
  
She shook her head, and finally managed to find the breath to speak. "Can...can you stay here? Until she comes back?" she asked, indicating towards the other handmaiden's bed. Micold didn't need much time to think.   
  
"Sure. You want to tell me what's wrong or would you rather not talk about it?"   
  
"I..I'd rather not. Sorry...maybe later. Just...don't let me be alone."   
  
"Is this because of earlier? I hope I didn't frighten you too much..."   
  
"No..it's...nevermind. It's not that."   
  
"Ok."   
  
The door hissed open again. Padme sighed. "Go away."   
  
Micold stood up. "As you wish." He turned, but she grasped his hand.   
  
"No, not you...him."   
  
Micold stared at the person who'd entered the room. He was in a cream-coloured tunic, with a lightsaber hanging from his belt and a short, padawan-style hair style. Anakin's ice-blue eyes met Micold's. "Mic, leave us alone for a minute, will you? I need to discuss something with Pad---"   
  
"Get out!!" Padme screeched at him.   
  
"Please, listen I-I--" Anakin stammered, stepping forward and into the room. Micold raised his hand, palm open, and sent a surge of energy into Anakin's chest, Force pushing him straight back out the door, which closed behind him with another hiss, which sounded like a machine trying to breathe.   
  
"The lady said get out." He muttered, half to himself. He silenced Anakin's mental cries being transmitted to him through the Force, and squatted on the floor at Padme's bedside, squeezing her hand gently.   
  
**   
  
It was still dark in the room, the light blocked out by the curtains. There was a terrible noise. An irritating noise, just outside the room.   
  
"Beep."   
  
Padme groaned. That damn astromech was always bugging her in the morning. She really didn't feel like getting up today...especially after last night. Damn. The painful memories hacked their way back to the front of her mind. She sighed, and slid her legs out of the bed. The floor moaned.   
  
"Wha---?ow!"   
  
She looked down, to find herself standing on a small, pale Jedi padawan. Micold had fallen asleep on the floor. "Mic?"   
  
He opened his eyes and looked up as Padme leaned over him to slide open the curtains. He swallowed, hard, then had to close his eyes again as the blinding light burst into the room, surrounding Padme like some kind of halo. "Uh...good morning?"   
  
"I hope it's still morning...if I'm late for that luncheon there's going to be trouble...Sabe doesn't kn---" She remembered who she was with, and that he didn't know of her identity. "Sabe doesn't know how to dress the Queen without my help." She recovered, weakly. "What're you doing down there anyway?"   
  
"Sorry...You said you didn't want to be left alone...I was gonna wait until Yane or whoever you share with came back. I guess I fell asleep."   
  
Padme glanced over at the other bed. It clearly had been recently slept in, as it was so neat only a handmaiden could have made it, and it hadn't been so neat last night. "Well, she's been and gone again...oh dear."   
  
"What?"   
  
"I hope she didn't know you were here...It could be....scandalous."   
  
"How?" asked Micold, sleepily.   
  
"Well..think about it, Mic! You know how people are! Having a young Jedi in my room all night isn't exactly proper."   
  
"So? You fell asleep, then I did. These things happen..."   
  
"People never see it that way."   
  
Micold waved his hand in the air. "They will see it that way," he said, grinning. Padme giggled a little.   
  
"Thanks for staying."   
  
"I was happy to."   
  
His eyes finally used to the light, Micold opened his eyes again, and looked up into Padme's smiling, shimmering face. He swallowed again... "Padme...mind if I tell you something?"   
  
"Go ahead," she answered sweetly.   
  
"I..l--"   
  
There was a shrill shriek from the other side of the door. Padme groaned. "That damn droid!" she cried, stepping over Micold and running to the door. She unlocked it with the keypad and it slide open. A little, squat, blue and white astromech droid rolled in, its domed head whirling around wildly. It focused on Micold, and make some rude sounding noises. Padme put her hands on her hips. "What is it, R2?" The little droid turned its dome around to her, and its holo-projector flickered to life, showing a small, blue-ish image of Anakin Skywalker. The holographic figure seemed to be standing on Padme's bed. It began to speak.   
  
"Padme, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what happened. Please let me ex---"   
  
"Shut it off," she curtly commanded the droid. R2 beeped and continued to play the message.   
  
"I never meant to hurt you. I was trying to talk to you, I just got conf---"   
  
"SHUT IT OFF!!" she screamed at the droid. R2 was taken aback, and did as he was commanded almost instantly, whistling quietly to himself. Padme glared down at him. R2 made a mournful beep, then rolled out quietly. Padme watched him leave, then turned back to Micold.   
  
"Are you going to be ok?" he asked.   
  
"Yeah....no." She bowed her head, and something wet and shiny dropped from one eye to the floor, followed by another from the other eye. Micold felt like crying himself. He couldn't stand to see her in so much pain.   
  
"What happened?" he asked, gently.   
  
"Ani.." she sobbed.   
  
"What did he do to you?" Micold's face became a dark visage of anger.   
  
"He...hurt me..."   
  
"...How?"   
  
"He...I thought he loved me..."   
  
Micold stayed silent, slightly confused. Then realisation dawned. "You saw him with the Queen?"   
  
She nodded slowly. "I've thought about him for the past eight years...I was so certain he..." she couldn't finish the sentence, her words dissolving into soft sobbing. Micold stood up and walked over to her, putting his arms gently around her to try to comfort her.   
  
"This is stupid..." she whispered.   
  
"No, Ani's stupid. How could anyone love another over you?" Micold whispered back, stroking her hair gently.   
  
"Thank you..." she said in his ear, not fully realising what he had meant. They stood there for a moment longer, then she pulled herself away, wiping her eyes with her hands. "We better get ready for this luncheon...We still have jobs to do," she said. Micold nodded silently, turned slowly, and walked straight into the door.   
  
"Ow!"   
  
Padme giggled. "Ooh. Sorry. Are you ok?"   
  
"Yeah...I forgot you locked it."   
  
"I noticed...the keycode's eleven hundred thirty eight."   
  
Micold keyed in the number and the door slid open before him. "Thanks...you sure you want a guy like me knowing the lock-code for your room?"   
  
"I don't mind...It might save time if you have to run in and rescue me or something...just don't tell it to Ani, ok?"   
  
"Of course."   
  
"Promise?"   
  
"Yep. Goodbye."   
  
"Bye, Mic..."   
  
**   
  
The fire crackled and burned. Smoke billowed from the top of the flames and the roasting carcass that was spiked on a spit over it. Anakin took his place beside Obi-Wan at the table, dressed in his smartest Jedi tunic. The rest of him, however, didn't look so good. He'd clearly not had much sleep. Neither had Obi-Wan, having been up all night listening to his padawan's crying and moaning. Obi-Wan glanced at Sabe, sitting dutifully yet noticeably uncomfortably beside the Queen. The true Queen. Obi-Wan sighed quietly to himself. His padawan had got them all into yet another fine mess. Sabe kept her eyes away from the Obi-Wan, her face like stone. She knew how he had felt, and she knew how much she'd hurt him. She was hurt too, though, after Anakin had explained that he'd made a mistake. These Jedi weren't as powerful as they seemed...or perhaps their nerves got the better of them. The luncheon was scheduled to begin over twelve minutes ago, but Micold and Master Yoda still hadn't arrived. Yane had been sent to find them, and eventually returned, carrying Yoda in one arm and dragging Micold with the other. She stopped just inside the door to the dining chamber, and glanced at the Queen, then Sabe, and turned to Micold. "I'm afraid Padme is feeling rather unwell, so she could not attend this. She has, however, arranged for you a special place beside the Queen."   
  
Micold nodded, and sat down at the true Queen's left hand. Padme, in make-up only slightly paler than Micold's own skin, smiled slightly at him. Micold smiled politely back at her, then turned away. He was hoping Padme was alright, and was trying to contact and soothe her through the Force. He couldn't seem to locate her though, but she felt very close.... Micold gazed along the line of handmaidens on the opposite side of the table, but none of those were her in disguise....He looked to his right, where Yoda had been sat in a child's high-chair beside chancellor Palpatine, who seemed to have stiffened slightly in the Jedi Master's presence. Micold then turned to his left, and watched as the Queen beckoned a shimmering, golden protocol droid over to stand behind her. "See Threepio, when the media begin to record and broadcast my announcement, could you translate for me into Huttese once I have finished each sentence?"   
  
"Yes, of course, your majesty. As you know, I am fluent in over s---"   
  
"Thank you, Threepio...Now, we may begin. Artoo!" She called to a blue, squat astrodroid, the same one that had interrupted them this morning, Micold noted. It seemed to have been demoted to carrying drinks, and rolled around the table, serving them to the guests. He had to beep to get Anakin's attention, as the padawan was lost in thought and gazing at the Queen sitting opposite him. The Queen avoided all eye contact with him, or tried to as best she could. She began to eat her meal, but clearly wasn't very hungry. The other guests began to eat theirs as well. Jar-Jar was trying not to be too noisy as he slurped his soup with his tongue. Micold wasn't feeling very hungry either, but ate as much as he could out of politeness. The Queen had finished eating, and laid he hands in her lap. Her left one suddenly slipped off and landed on Micold's knee. Micold shook a little, and grasped the hand gently but firmly. He then lifted it and dropped it back into the Queen's lap. She sighed a little, and watched the rest of her guests feed themselves. Once two courses had been mostly completed, the Queen stood and the hubbub of conversation died down. She addressed her guests. "Distinguished guests, it is a pleasure to be with you this afternoon." She glanced out of a tall, narrow window, and noted it was almost evening. "I have invited you, my closest friends and colleagues, to hear my announcement before I make it public knowledge later today." She took a deep breath, and continued on. "I have decided to retire as the Queen of Naboo." There was a murmur of shock. Chancellor Palpatine spoke over the sound.   
  
"But, your highness, what else would you do? You could never enter a normal job now you have become so famous."   
  
"That is why I won't be entering a normal job or becoming a civilian. I shall be a part of Naboo's senatorial delegation."   
  
Everyone looked at Jar-Jar. Palpatine asked, "Have you agreed to Amidala being your co-senator?" Jar-Jar nodded. "Very well," said Palpatine, "There should be no problems in the senate with this decision...how long have you known of it, Senator Binks?"   
  
"Oh...lemme see....about...uh two o' three weeks?"   
  
"Weeks?! Has anyone else been informed before us?"   
  
The Queen shook her head. "No, Chancellor. At least I hope not..." She glanced at Jar-Jar, who began to blush. She groaned. "Jar-Jar! Who have you told?"   
  
"Only da Boss...and da Chancellor."   
  
"You knew of this, Chancellor?"   
  
Palpatine looked shocked. "I...I have not heard of this decision before now. Surely you are mistaken, Senator Binks?"   
  
"My no know...He was lookin' awfully like yousa. Only all in black...and his face was covered up wit da bombad hood!"   
  
Palpatine winced almost visibly. "I see...This is disturbing..."   
  
"It could've been a sith." Obi-Wan spoke up. "The one I fought was dressed like that."   
  
"A sith? Looking like the Chancellor?" The Queen glared at him skeptically.   
  
Anakin shrugged. "It's possible...maybe this public announcement is a bad idea...the sith did try to kill you befor--"   
  
"I will not cancel this because of an old fable or a strangely dressed man who happened to look a little like the chancellor, Jedi. The broadcast will go ahead."   
  
"Very well," Anakin nodded, "You shall, of course, have the our full protection."   
  
"Thank you, padawan Skywalker..." she said, her voice tight. "Now, we still have plenty of time before the broadcast, so let us finish our meal."   
  
**   
  
The black, spherical, sinister-looking droids hovered around Padme. They whirred, clicked, buzzed and beeped as they recorded and transmitted her every move and sound to the holo-net. She stood on a dark, wooden platform on a small, marble bridge over a river running through Theed. Behind her, as a dramatic backdrop for her announcement, was the huge waterfall that fed the river. She was in her most formal, pure white dress, the same one she had worn all those years ago at the celebration of the victor of the Battle of Naboo, but without the headpiece. She'd been surprised that she had managed to still fit into it, although it was a little shorter and tighter than the last time she had worn it. She hoped it wouldn't rain....   
  
At her side were two handmaidens, Yane and Rabe, and to the other were her three bodyguards, Sabe, Micold and Anakin. Anakin was examining a camera closely. "Wow! We're gonna be on the Coruscant News Network, Micold! Live!"   
  
"Yippie," said Micold sarcastically.   
  
"Come on, you've gotta be a little excited, right? This speech will be watched by billions of beings at once! Probably even trillions!"   
  
The Queen sighed. "Thank you, Anakin, that really helped my nerves."   
  
"Sorry, your worship."   
  
"Shut up. Are we ready to go on yet?"   
  
A member of the press crew, a rodian it seemed, held up a finger to indicate there was one minute left until they went on air. Anakin looked into one of the hovering cameras and grinned. "Maybe I could be on holo-vision!" He put on a deep voice. "This is CNN."   
  
Micold rolled his eyes. "Real funny, Ani."   
  
Anakin's face fell. He'd tried to be cheery, despite his recent heartbreak, but Micold had kept pulling him down. "What's up with you, Mic? Wake up on the wrong side of bed this morning?"   
  
Micold stiffened, and went very slightly red. "Uh...sorta."   
  
"Where did you sleep last night anyway? Your bed was still made this morning, so I don't think you slept in our quarters..."   
  
"I..uh...was with another friend."   
  
"Who?"   
  
"Uh....Pa--"   
  
The Rodian raised his hand, "We're on!"   
  
Padme took a deep breath, and forced a smile through her make-up. Micold and Anakin fell silent and stood still as she delivered the speech she had practised so thoroughly she didn't need to look once at her notes. As she was drawing it to a close, Anakin felt a shiver down his spine. He glanced at Micold, who nodded and gripped his lightsaber tightly.   
  
Fzzzt!   
  
A thin, crooked bolt of blue light flew out of nowhere and pierced through the sky, heading straight for the Queen's heart. Anakin and Micold's eyes both fixed on the source of the sound immediately, and Micold flicked on his blade, bringing it up in front of Padme's face to block the bolt. Anakin grabbed Padme's waist and pulled her away, stumbling backwards and flinging her over his head...and over the side of the bridge. Micold heard a splash, followed by two loud curses, followed by the sizzle of energy cracking off his blade and onto the ground, where it faded. He turned around. "Are you ok yo....your highness?!" He leaned over the edge of the bridge. "Oh." The Queen was sitting, neck deep, in the river that flowed slowly under the bridge and through Theed. Her make-up was streaming off her face, but even without it she looked familiar.... "Padme?!"   
  
She nodded, her sopping hair bouncing sadly behind her head. Her eyes were burning with fury. "Shut off those damn cameras!" She yelled up at the two padawans. Anakin continued to stare down at her, dumbfounded, while Micold proceeded to hack the cameras to bits with his lightsaber, much to the Rodian's annoyance. Padme stood up and waded over to the rocky bank of the river, and began to scramble up it with as much dignity as she could in the dripping dress. It was sticking to her skin and making climbing very difficult. Anakin continued to stare, while Micold jumped down onto the rocks and held Padme's hand, hauling her back onto the bridge. She stood up in front of Anakin, and glared at him. "Anakin Skywalker!! You...idiotic...moronic....stupid...what the *hell* did you do that for?!"   
  
He kept his eyes locked on hers, mostly to keep himself from smiling. "Padme...I'm soooo sorry....I was just trying to save you from th---"   
  
"Save me?! You threw me off a festerin' bridge!! You almost killed me! I could have drowned!"   
  
"Well you look like a drowned womprat.."   
  
Padme was seething with anger, "Anakin!! This isn't funny! Trillions of beings throughout the galaxy saw that! I...I've never been so humiliated! No-one has!!"   
  
Anakin finally cracked. He couldn't hide the amused smile. "I'm sorry, next time someone shoots at you I'll let them hit you. Now perhaps we should get inside, before someone shoots at you again...and we need to get you out of the cold before you catch a chill..."   
  
She growled at him.   
  
"Aw don't be such a wet blanket...oops." Anakin chuckled. Padme turned on her heel and was about to walk away when a thought struck her. She spun back around, dug the heel of one of her shoes into Anakin's foot and slapped him as hard as she could. Then she turned on her heel, which was still embedded in Anakin's boot, and walked away. Micold frowned at Anakin, pulled off his Jedi robe and wrapped it around Padme. He walked back to the palace along side her, with the two handmaidens and Sabe at their heels. Anakin sighed, and sprinted past them to the palace, heading for his room. The group ignored him as he passed them.   
  
**  
  
Padme and Micold trudged along a long, dim corridor cutting through the marble palace, Padme leaving a wet trail along the floor behind her like a slug. Micold silently hoped no-one would slip and hurt themselves on it. Padme didn't seem to care about that though, although she may have been hoping Anakin would slip on it. She was still furious with him. "How could he be so stupid?! Did he do this to me on purpose?"  
  
Micold kept his eyes straight ahead. "I don't know..."  
  
"You're a Jedi, can't you sense where he is and what he's thinking?"  
  
"Usually...he's made it to his room and is thinking that he's screwed up and you'll never speak to him again."  
  
"Good! He's right, between today and last night I don't want to even see him again. Ever!" She sighed, and stopped. They had reached the door of her own room. She began to pull off the robe Micold had wrapped around her. "Thanks for this... I had no idea the water could be so cold on a summer's day..."  
  
Micold nodded at her, and took the damp, brown robe. "You're welcome, your highness."  
  
She winced at the title. "I hope you're not going to start feeling and acting differently around me now that you know who I am...I know how much you hate popular and powerful people..."  
  
Micold smiled at her. "Of course not. You're still Padme to me, your handmaideness."  
  
She smiled back. "Thank you...but...if you're such a great Jedi, why couldn't you sense who I really was?"  
  
Micold's smile became sheepish, and a little colour entered his cheeks. "Uh...I sometimes have trouble with sensing people around me, especially when I'm nervous...Anakin's the same way."  
  
Her smile became a puzzled look. "Why do you get so nervous around me?"  
  
Micold took a deep breath. "Well, to be honest...I think I..l--"  
  
A thought suddenly struck Padme. "You said Anakin's the same way when he's nervous?" she asked, hurriedly.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Then...he wouldn't have known if he was talking to me or Sabe last night?"  
  
Micold grimaced. "I suppose.."  
  
Padme grinned at him. "Thank you!" she cried, and ran off towards Anakin's room. Micold stood at the doorway, his face darkly contorted with anger and grief. He began to follow, slowly. After all, it was his room too, even if he hadn't used it last night.  
  
**  
  
Anakin stood in the bedroom he and Micold had been assigned when they arrived on Naboo. He stared out of a tall, narrow window, gazing at the flaming sunset. It was beautiful, but Anakin's mind was trying not to use that word. He'd always connected beautiful things to Padme. Now, it seemed, he'd probably never even see her again. She wouldn't want to see him, anyway, and he didn't blame her. He should have been more careful, and laughing about it afterwards hadn't helped. If only he could be more sensitive...like when he was younger. He'd always been so kind then...  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by the quiet hiss of the door sliding open. He turned slowly, and saw a slim, white-clad figure, illuminated by the light streaming in from the window ahead of her and the open door behind. As the door slowly closed again, the light still seemed to surround her, almost like a...halo...  
  
"Padme, I...I'm sorry..." he began, expecting her to interrupt with a torrent of insults at any moment.  
  
She folded her arms across her chest, and glared at him. "Explain yourself," she said, quietly.  
  
"I was just trying to help...Obi-Wan keeps telling me to not use my lightsaber so much, so I though I shouldn't use it to block the shot and should pull you away instead...I might have deflected it into someone else anyway...or I might have missed...I guess I got a little over zealous when I lifted you out of the way...and I shouldn't have laughed at you...I'm soooo sorry about that...."  
  
"That's not what I meant."  
  
He looked at her, completely bewildered. "Then...what else do you want me to explain?"  
  
"Last night. When you told Sabe...." she trailed off, unable to utter the words.  
  
"Oh...I honestly didn't know it was her...I know it sounds stupid and you probably don't believe me but I couldn't tell it wasn't you..."  
  
"You wanted it to be me?"  
  
He swallowed hard, and nodded.  
  
"Then tell me. I'm here now."  
  
"Ok..." Anakin dropped to his knees at the side of the bed. "I love you, Padme."  
  
Suddenly the dark glare vanished, and Padme beamed at him. "I know," she said, and dove onto the bed, sliding across it on her stomach until her lips met his. The lips stayed pressed together for some time.  
  
There was a metallic hiss as the door opened again. They ignored it.  
  
There was a quiet sigh, and the sound of boots spinning around and rushing back out of the door. They ignored it.  
  
There was another metallic hiss as the door closed. They ignored it.  
  
Finally, Padme remembered oxygen was required to live. She pulled her head back a little, and gazed at Anakin, who gazed straight back. "You've got a good aim, Padme," he breathed, grinning.  
  
"I know that, too."  
  
"You're still wet though..."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, so sorry, did I get your bed all wet?"  
  
"Nope...actually that's Mic's bed. But I'm sure he won't mind."  
  
She rolled onto her back and patted the soft, damp covers. Anakin hopped onto the bed and lay on his front, his head held over hers. They lay there, in an L-shape, for some time, gazing into each other's eyes. Eventually, they could no longer resist the other's gaze.  
  
**  
  
Yane strode through the Throne-room, carrying her short, green pet. Yoda had been having the time of his life on Naboo. It had been several centuries since anyone had ever considered him 'cute'. The throne-room was the last stop on his guided, and carried, tour of the palace. Yoda glanced around, taking in everything with interest. It hadn't changed much since the last time he had been here... His eyes fell on the throne itself. It was the same, and the Queen was still wearing that pale make-up, but her dress sense seemed to have changed a little. Yoda had never seen her wearing a black, hooded robe before. Not without jewels in it and an ornate headpiece anyway. He stretched out with the Force, and noticed this was not the Queen at all. It wasn't even alive.  
  
Yane also noticed the strange, pale figure in the throne. Its arms were crossed across it's chest. She moved closer, cautiously, and lifted the rim of the hood with her free hand. She gasped as she saw the ice-blue eyes staring back at her, and the blood trickling from the mouth. She moved her hand to the figure's own, and found it cold and limp. She shrieked a little, and then composed herself, reaching into her robes and fetching a comlink. "Captain! Send a medical team to the throne-room right away! Padawan Micold has taken very ill..."  
  
**  
  
End of Episode 1: Eyes on Me.  
  
**  
  
Episode 2: No Chance In Hell.  
  
**  
  
Light streamed into the bright room through tall, narrow windows. A pale figure sat upright in a bed, gazing out of a window at the sunlight glinting off the river as it slowly flowed through the city of Theed. He heard a door hiss open, but ignored it until a familiar presence flooded his mind. He still didn't turn, but shook his head a little to try to get away from the smell of sweet perfume.   
  
Padme sat on a bed beside Micold's, and watched him staring straight ahead. He sat there, silently, for over a minute until Padme broke the silence.   
  
"Mic?"   
  
He blinked, and turned to her. "Uh...hi."   
  
"You ok?"   
  
"Yeah....just meditating. I had a vision."   
  
"Oh? Anything special going to happen?"   
  
"Yeah...but I better not tell you. It'll spoil the surprise."   
  
"Uh...ok. Listen, Ani and...well, Anakin and I were wondering...seeing as you can leave the infirmary now, would you like to go out with us this evening?"   
  
"Where to?"   
  
"We're going dancing..."   
  
"Sure, great. Can't wait to watch you and Anakin dancing...." he muttered.   
  
"Mic, it won't be like that. Please come? Maybe you'll find someone special there..."   
  
"I already did...but the wonderful Chosen One got there first..."   
  
"Mic, don't be like that!"   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Please cheer up and come with us...for me?"   
  
Micold sighed. "Fine..."   
  
Padme smiled at him. "Thank you. I'll let you have first dance."   
  
"Who with? You or Anakin?"   
  
She giggled. "See, you're cheering up already. With a sense of humour like yours I'm sure you'll make a nice girl happy someday."   
  
"Sure..."   
  
She stood up. "Well, I better let you get ready. We'll be leaving in about an hour. Ani and I will come get you."   
  
"Thanks, mother..."   
  
Padme laughed again as she left. Micold returned his gaze to the flowing water out of the window, and opened his mind to the Force. The vision hadn't given him much hope for the future...but, as Master Yoda had told him once, always in motion is the future. He could change it. Perhaps, some day, there would still be a little sandy haired boy running around...Luke Adoy...his own son. Just as long as there were no more of those damn Skywalkers...   
  
**   
  
Sweet, quiet music fluttered through the large, bright chamber. Elderly couples swayed with the music, while the band played a variety of large, wooden instruments. Anakin slumped in a chair, his head resting on a table. He looked up as Micold slid out a chair beside him, and motioned for Padme to sit. She did so, and Micold sat down across from her at the other side of the table. Anakin grinned. "Enjoy the dance?"  
  
Micold smiled back. "Sure. It was...soothing."  
  
Padme rolled her eyes. "It was nice. But you shouldn't be such a gentleman all the time...anyway, that dance didn't count."  
  
Anakin frowned. "Why not?"  
  
"Because Mic didn't hold me properly. I thought you said you had taken lessons."  
  
Micold squirmed a little in his seat. "I did...but I didn't think it'd be right to hold you that...way."  
  
She sighed. "Mic, this is your night. You're supposed to be getting cheered up. Forget about rules and protocol and being polite, just do what your heart tells you. That's the only way I can cope when I'm trying not to be Amidala.."  
  
Micold smirked. "As you wish..." he said, raising his hand off the table and placing it on Padme's. She smiled at him, and slid it away.  
  
"*Almost* anything..." she said, and then giggled at Anakin's expression.  
  
Anakin turned, pouting, and looked at a small holoprojector hanging in a corner of the room. He watched as a tall, red-and-black-haired Wookie grabbed a shorter, big-nosed and blonde-haired Wookie by the throat, hauled him into the air, and slammed him into the ground. He grinned. "Cool. Go Bane!!"  
  
Micold looked up at the holoprojector. "Bane? Hey, they're showing Wookie Championship Wrestling! Cool!"  
  
The holograph of a short, stout Ugnaut kneeled by the huge Wookie, who was pinning the shorter one to the floor, and slammed his hand off the ground three times. There was a faint, crackly sound of a bell ringing, followed by cheering, coming from the projector.  
  
"Alright! Bane's the InterGalactic Champion!" chorused Micold and Anakin together.  
  
Padme rolled her eyes. "Please..." she muttered.  
  
The lights of the hall dimmed, and bright lasers began to flash.  
  
"Aw..." said Anakin as the holo-projector shut off.  
  
"Don't be so disappointed," Padme said to him, "The dance centre's getting ready for the younger generation to come. I think business is about to pick up..." The last comment caused Micold and Anakin to exchange an amused glance.  
  
The sweet, quiet music stopped, and louder, more upbeat music began to blare as a small crowd of people streamed into the large hall. Anakin's eyes darted around the room, and Micold's clamped shut. Padme rolled her own eyes at Anakin. "Gee...I feel kind of over-dressed."  
  
Anakin turned to her. "Why couldn't you wear something like Yane's got on?"  
  
Padme frowned in confusion. "Yane? She's here?"  
  
Anakin nodded, and pointed towards a young woman, dancing around in knee-high boots, an almost transparent silver shirt, and a silver belt. Or it might've been a skirt...Padme couldn't quite tell. As the woman whirled around, Padme noticed she was wearing a small, green backpack...which seemed to have large ears...She gasped in shock. "Yane?! Yoda?!" She heard Anakin snigger.  
  
"Dammit! Why's everyone think that old green coot's so cute?" He asked, "Anyway what're you complaining about, Padme? You're not exactly wearing much yourself..."  
  
"I am wearing a lot more than that!!"  
  
"Not really..." mused Micold. "She does have quite large boots...Technically, I'd say your clothes and Yane's clothes cover roughly the same area..."  
  
"Yeah," Anakin agreed. "Yours just cover *different* areas."   
  
Padme groaned. "I...just...oh, shut up! Mic, I think it's time for that dance..."  
  
"Hey, I've not had a dance yet!!"  
  
Padme smirked at him, and held her hand out to Micold. He took it, slightly hesitantly, and they stood up and headed onto the dance floor. Anakin pouted.  
  
**   
  
Padme leaned her forehead against Micold's. It had been a long time since she'd danced with someone of her own height. She swayed and moved her feet in time with the beat, trying to dance as well as Yane. However, some of her moves were a little exotic for Padme's taste... "You're getting the hang of this...you're still a little slow though."   
  
Micold smirked. "That's what I get told about everything...How long're you planning on leaving Anakin like this?"   
  
"Oh...all night," she laughed.   
  
"Lucky me..." murmured Micold.   
  
"Ha. What is it with you Jedi? Do you all end up falling for girls from Naboo?"   
  
"Hmm...Yoda's got Yane...Ani's got you...Obi-Wan's got Sabe..."   
  
"What?!"   
  
"Uh...well he *wants* Sabe."   
  
"Oh dear...She wants Ani..."   
  
"Ouch. Don't you just *hate* love triangles?"   
  
Padme smirked at him. "I dunno...it can be fun sometimes. Us Naboo love having people chasing after us..."   
  
"Unless they're Sith, right?"   
  
"What?"   
  
"Nevermind...Can I ask you a...personal question?"   
  
"Of course...but don't expect me to answer it..."   
  
"Ok...what's so special about Anakin? Other than him being the Chosen One?"   
  
"Oh...um, I don't know. He's just...Oh, Mic, you're not trying to compare yourself to him or anything are you?"   
  
"Me? Of course not. How could I ever compare myself to the Chosen One?!"   
  
"Mic! Stop it! Please?"   
  
"Alright...sorry. I just..."   
  
"I understand how you feel, but being miserable all the time won't help. Just...let it go. You should try to find someone else...Look at all the nice girls here." Padme released her grip on Micold's shoulders and turned, trying to find a potential date for him. She saw Anakin was no longer alone at his table, but was chatting excitedly with a young, green skinned Twi'Lek girl, who was dressed similarly to Yane, only in gold...and without the shirt. One of her long, slender fingers was playing with Anakin's padawan braid. She arched an eyebrow, and watched as the Twi'Lek's finger began curling around Anakin's ear.   
  
"What are they doing?" She said tightly to Micold.   
  
"Um...just talking?" He said, trying to be helpful. Then he noticed that they'd started to use their mouths for more than talking... "Oh...bugger." He put an arm around Padme, who had begun to shake.   
  
"What...wh..." She watched them finish, and Anakin saw her over the Twi'Lek's bare shoulder. Padme saw his mouth forming an expletive, and turned back to Micold, her face becoming streaked with tears. Micold was about to ask her if she was ok, but realised that sort of question wasn't very comforting. Instead he just held her, carefully, until she pulled away and looked into his eyes...and kissed him.   
  
**   
  
The sun rose over the beautiful city of Theed. Light glinted off the waterfall as it cascaded down the cliff-face. Above it, just at the edge of the falls, a scorched hole sat in the ground, where a blade of pure energy had previously been impaled...   
  
Padme stepped back through the windows and onto the private balcony overlooking the falls and the lake, which fed one of Theed's narrow rivers. Her feet crunched over broken glass as she stepped over a pair of smashed macrobinoculars she had been looking through last night. She had wanted to see what those coloured flashes of light were...   
  
"Your highness..." Rabe's voice came softly from inside the bedroom. "Padawan Skywalker is here to see you..."   
  
Padme nodded. "Send him through..."   
  
Anakin strode onto the balcony, pausing slightly as he felt his boots standing on broken glass. He took a deep breath as he stood behind Padme. "I'm sor--"   
  
"What happened last night?" she cut in coldly.   
  
"I...was about to explain that...The Twi'Lek girl has been a friend of mine for years...since I was three, I think..."   
  
"How did a slave get to Naboo?"   
  
"She wasn't a slave, she was a customer. Well, her father was. She usually came with him."   
  
"It looked more like you were a customer of hers..." Padme muttered, darkly.   
  
"Hey! Just because she's a Twi'Lek doesn't mean she's a...a...Oh, nevermind. I shouldn't have let her get so...uh...over-excited at seeing me...I'm sorry, Padme..."   
  
Padme continued to gaze to the bottom of the falls, nodding slightly. "I understand. Females of that species are notorious for being overly friendly. I suppose it wasn't your fault...but that wasn't what I was asking about...what else happened last night?"   
  
Anakin frowned in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"   
  
Padme sighed. "Where is Micold?"   
  
"Oh...How did you know about...that?"   
  
"I saw it..." she blubbered out, and tears began to slide down her cheeks. Anakin bowed his head, and noticed the smashed macrobinoculars. He winced.   
  
"Oh, Padme...I'm sorry...He--"   
  
"You've been saying that a lot since you came back here..."   
  
"I know, I'm sor...nevermind." Anakin sighed. "I don't know where he is..."   
  
Padme nodded sadly, and clenched her teeth together. "I'd like to be alone, Anakin..."   
  
He nodded, and turned to leave the balcony. He saw a robed, bearded figure in the doorway. He'd been too shaken up to sense his master standing behind him. Obi-Wan's eyes were full of rage, and he began to bellow at Anakin. "Anakin Skywalker!! You idiot! What do you think you're doing?!"   
  
Anakin stared at Obi-Wan, dumbfounded. Eventually he tried to answer his master. "I..We're just talking..."   
  
"I was talking about Micold! Or had you forgotten that you'd killed him last night?!"   
  
Anakin heard Padme gasp, and felt a great pain striking through her. He lowered his head again. "But...I took him to the infirmary...they said he would be ok after the prosthetics wer--"   
  
"Prosthetics will be no use to him anymore! Because of your selfishness and your damned special status Micold will be punished for this while you are playing around with your Queen!"   
  
Padme began to step towards the door. "I...think I'll leave you two alone.."   
  
"We would be honoured if you would join us..." Obi-Wan said cooly, grasping her wrist and holding her in place between him and Anakin. He turned his attention back to his apprentice. "Master Yoda has convinced himself that Micold is a Sith, who has infiltrated the Jedi Temple to destroy the Chosen One."   
  
Anakin looked shock. "He's not a Sith!! He was just mad because of something I did."   
  
"And now that something you did has got him killed. I hope you're happy, padawan."   
  
"But he's still alive!"   
  
"Not for long. As soon as he is fit to travel Micold will be taken back to the Jedi Council, who will execute him."   
  
Padme gasped. "Execute? The Jedi are peaceful! Surely they wouldn't do something like that..."   
  
"They would to a Sith," Obi-Wan replied. "Micold is now awake and has requested to see you both. Good day, your highness." Obi-Wan bowed quickly, turned on his heel, and strode away. Anakin and Padme followed, and headed for the infirmary.   
  
**  
  
Padme strode into the cool,dim interior of the infirmary. This, the throne room and the main hall were the only places in Theed's palace that the public entered, usually. It wasn't that they were forbidden or locked out of the palace, as Padme hated for people to feel inferior to her, it was just that most people on Naboo were polite. This included the Chancellor, who was just leaving Micold's bedside.  
  
"Ah, your highness..." he bowed slightly.  
  
"Chancellor, I thought you left last night."  
  
"I decided to stay until morning. I've missed those beautiful sunrises...Unfortunately I awoke this morning to hear that young padawan Micold has been injured again... Quite seriously this time it seems."  
  
"It was serious last time..." muttered Padme. Then she noticed Yane stepping out from behind the Chancellor. "How is he?" she asked.  
  
"Your highness," Yane bowed. "Micold's hand was severed completely, although we have managed to fit an artificial one...His lungs were also severely damaged as he was underwater for so long, and he received many internal injuries from the fall. His lungs had to be supplemented with a mechanical breathing system..."  
  
Padme winced. Breathing underwater with the apparatus she had used when visiting the Gungan city had been unpleasant, and slightly painful. She didn't want to think of how it would feel to have a mechanism inside her to control her breathing. A chill went down her spine as she thought of it, and she noticed the Chancellor brushing past her to talk with Anakin, who had entered the infirmary shortly after her. She turned back to Yane. "Is he awake?"  
  
"He was a few moments ago, however he continually lapses in and out of consciousness, I'm afraid. You can still try to speak with him if you wish..."  
  
"Thank you, Yane." Padme strode past her handmaiden and stood at the foot of Micold's bed. She shuddered a little as she heard the awful, mechanical hiss and gasping breath of Micold's new lungs. The noise repeated, constantly, over and over. She shook her head, trying to clear out the disturbing images the sound seemed to implant in her mind.  
  
"Is it that bad?"  
  
She started. Micold's eyes were open and fixed on her. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know if you were awake. And, no, its not that bad."  
  
"You look like I'm making you feel ill..."  
  
"I didn't get much sleep last night..." she said. It was still a truth, she thought, even if Micold was right about *the* truth.  
  
"Did Anakin tell you what happened?"  
  
"No...I saw it for myself..."  
  
"Oh...sorry. I suppose your mad at me now...I guess I was pretty stupid..."  
  
Padme looked puzzled. "Why would I be mad at you?"  
  
"I tried to beat the hell out of Anakin because of what he did to you..."  
  
"Oh...well you were trying to do something nice...and you didn't try to kill him...did you?"  
  
"Nope, but Yoda thinks I did. Now he's gonna kill me."  
  
"They can't be that mad surely..." Padme noticed Micold's voice seemed to have become a bit deeper with the mechanical lungs installed.  
  
"Oh, they are. No-one's told me, but I could sense a real bad feeling from Obi-Wan. And now you look like you've been crying all night and I can sense a great loss in you....although that might be from losing Ani..."  
  
Padme sighed. "I didn't lose Ani...it was a misunderstanding..."  
  
"So I really am gonna be executed then?"  
  
"No! I won't let it happen, Mic."  
  
"You can't stop it...The Jedi aren't going to listen to anyone from the senate...and you're not Queen anymore."  
  
"I am still Queen for a few weeks. There hasn't been a new one elected yet...And Chancellor Palpatine has some power...I could call in a favour.."  
  
"A favour?"  
  
"I was mostly responsible for him being elected...Its a long story. I'm sure he'll be happy to help us...somehow. I won't let them kill you. I promise." Padme smiled at him.  
  
Micold smiled back. "Thanks...but why're you doing this?"  
  
"I'm doing it because you're a friend."  
  
"A friend of who? You or Anakin?"  
  
"After last night I doubt you're still a friend of Anakin..."  
  
Micold tried to laugh. The machines making him breathe wouldn't allow it, however, and it sounded more like a wheeze. "Its not the first time we've fought...though I suppose it was the most violent. Anyway...how can I be your friend? We hardly know each other.."  
  
"You only met a few days ago..." Anakin said, stepping behind Padme and putting a hand on her shoulder. "How's it going, Mic?"  
  
"Oh, it's going great, mate."  
  
"That's not true..." said Padme.  
  
Anakin stared at her. "Of course it's not true! He almost died!"  
  
"No...I meant about us only meeting a few days ago."  
  
"Oh..." He glanced at Micold. "You've met before?"  
  
"Sure, I was born here. Padme's mother was my mother's best friend. We grew up together."  
  
"But you're a padawan, don't they get taken away by the time they're a few months old to start their training?" asked Anakin.  
  
"Yeah, usually. But I was like you. A special case...I left for the temple when I was about six or seven...I don't really remember. I came back here a lot for holidays or if I got really sick." He gazed at the ceiling. "I've spent a lot of time in this room."  
  
"And you've had Yane and I as your slaves for most of that time..." Padme said, still smiling at him. "You were always so shy. Remember when we had to bathe you?"  
  
"Ack! Don't tell Ani about that!" Micold looked mortified. Anakin laughed.  
  
"And when you arrived with Ani...you said you hoped I didn't mind you coming along..." Padme continued.  
  
"Yeah, well...You might've been getting bored of me. And you didn't even recognise me at first."  
  
"It's been over a year since your last visit, and you've had a growth spurt."  
  
Anakin laughed again. "You mean he used to be shorter than this?"  
  
Padme grinned. "Yes. When he was about three he was still the size of a baby. I used to carry him around like a doll...Anyway, I need to...er...discuss something with the Chancellor. I'll see later."  
  
Anakin let his hand drop off Padme's shoulder as she turned to leave. "Tell me about the bathing thing!"  
  
"No way!" Micold cried.  
  
She giggled a little, and jogged out of the room to find Palpatine. She had a plan.  
  
**  
  
The Queen sat upright in her throne, wrapped in a pale yellow dress, a hood covering her white face. She waited patiently as a man strode across to her from the doorway, and bowed. "Chancellor," she said, nodding in return.  
  
"You wished to speak with me, your highness?"  
  
"Yes. You are aware that Yoda believes padawan Micold to be a Sith the Jedi Council wish to put him on trial?"  
  
"I'm afraid so, yes..." Palpatine answered.  
  
"He is most likely to be executed..."  
  
The Chancellor sighed. "I can see where this is leading, your majesty...you wish for the senate to intervene and save him?"  
  
"He is to be killed unjustly. It is---"  
  
"I understand, your majesty, that he is a good friend of yours. However the senate cannot interfere in the actions of the Jedi council. It is in the Republic's constitution..."  
  
"Isn't there any way to stop them? Couldn't we grant Micold asylum on our world?"  
  
"I'm afraid not. You would have to physically fight the Jedi to stop them taking him away. I'm afraid a war would be the only way to save his life..."  
  
"I am not willing to sacrifice thousands of lives for the sake of one, Chancellor, and we have no army!"  
  
"There may be no need to lose lives, your majesty. The Republic is considering creating an army using cloning technology to protect the militarily weaker systems such as Naboo. This type of incident could help it to become legal much quicker. If the act is passed and you declare war on the Jedi, then you shall have the assistance of the Republic Army." Palpatine looked her in the eye, almost hopefully.  
  
"I do not wish to kill any Jedi..."  
  
"The Jedi are peaceful, and only attack as a last resort. If handing over Micold to your custody will prevent a war, then it is most likely they will do that. And if they still refuse, the senate will make moves to amend the constitution, and bring the Jedi under our control in order to prevent the war." He smiled at the Queen.  
  
She smiled back. "The plan seems almost too good to be true...Can it be done?"  
  
"Yes, but there is great risk...The Senate is still quite unpredictable and it can not be guaranteed that they will pass any of the acts required...and, like yourself, I don't know if all this political manoeuvring and the possible wars are worth one life...It will be very difficult...unless I were to use underhanded methods?"  
  
She frowned in confusion. "We are already using underhanded methods, Chancellor. What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, I lied about the Clone army being proposed. Some supporters and I have secretly already constructed it. We can take several short cuts with procedure, but...you are the ruler of my home system, and as the law states I cannot intervene on your behalf, in order to prevent one system ruling the Republic. I would have to call in several favours to have others bring up the issue...and some senators may not take to kindly to me asking them to help out my Queen. They may see it as a conflict of interests..."  
  
"Then don't do it for your Queen..." she smiled again at him. "Couldn't you do it for your favourite niece?"  
  
Palpatine smiled back. "Of course. You did help me to become elected, so I suppose I owe you one...and it is the right thing to do. Micold has committed no crime, and the Jedi should not be allowed to murder him, just like the rest of the Republic's citizens." He bowed. "I shall head to the capital immediately to begin preparations. You should try to keep Micold here for as long as possible, at least until I contact you about the progress of our plan."  
  
"Thank you, uncle Palpy."  
  
Palpatine's smile became almost an amused smirk, and he turned and left the throne room.  
  
**   
  
Micold heard a sweet song being hummed inside his ear. He opened his eyes, and say a deep brown eye, set in an angelic face, staring back at him. The face smiled.   
  
"Good morning," Padme almost sang, cheerily.   
  
"Guh?" muttered a still drowsy Micold.   
  
"The Queen is not pleased with your apparent good progress..." Padme said, still grinning.   
  
"Progress?"   
  
Padme's tone become more sombre. "At the rate your healing you'll be out of here tomorrow night and then you'll get carted off to Coruscant to face the council..."   
  
"But...I've not been in any healing trances or anything..."   
  
"I know. You Jedi just heal too quickly, and my handmaidens are too good. I have a plan to get you out of this, Mic, but it will take time. I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep you here for as long as possible."   
  
"Oh...lucky me."   
  
"Mind if I see your lightsaber?"   
  
Micold started. "What?!"   
  
"I know its a personal thing and everything but can I just see it for a minute? Its important..."   
  
"I..er...suppose. You've seen it before anyway..."   
  
She picked up the metal cylinder from the steel cabinet beside his bed.   
  
"Oh...right," muttered Micold.   
  
She smiled innocently at him. "Are these things delicate?"   
  
"Not really...Its made out of a strong metal so if I drop if or anything the crystal isn't damaged."   
  
"Good. This is going to hurt you a lot more than its going to hurt me. Wait that's not right...Oh who cares?"   
  
Micold watched in confusion as Padme raised the saber handle over her head...and swung it down with all her strength onto his shin. He screamed.   
  
"Sorry...had to be done..." she smiled innocently at him again as he tried to restrain his cursing. A hooded handmaiden rushed into the room and Padme put her hands on Micold's shoulders. "He was trying to get out of bed...He fell awkwardly on his leg...I've just put him back in bed. Silly Mic."   
  
"What?! You...Ow!!"   
  
The handmaiden began poking at Micold's leg with a small medical probe. It beeped and whirred. She looked at Padme. "I believe it is broken, your highness."   
  
Padme's expression was static. "He is supposed to go to Coruscant tomorrow evening. Will this leg affect his departure?"   
  
"I'm afraid so, your highness. He cannot get to a ship with a broken leg, and we must monitor it here for infection or ---"   
  
"Thank you, Rabe. Please go fetch a medical kit and set his leg..."   
  
**  
  
Padme strode from the main infirmary to the waiting area, followed by Rabe, scowling at her Queen getting her name wrong. People always mixed up her and Yane, except that cute little green thing Obi-Wan had brought with him, so she didn't bother to correct her. "You seem quite eager to keep Micold here, your highness..."   
  
Padme stopped, and whirled around to face her handmaiden. "Pardon?"   
  
"It was quite obvious you deliberately inflicted those injuries to him somehow..."   
  
"I did no such thing! Why would I wish to harm a friend?"   
  
"As I said, your highness, to keep him here. I'm sure the Jedi wouldn't mind if he asked for a leave of ab--"   
  
Padme held up her finger to quieten Rabe (or Yane, or whichever one it was). "The Jedi are quite anxious for Micold to be returned to them. I had no choice...and don't even think about telling anyone, Yane!"   
  
"Of course not, your highness. Padawan Anakin will not be happy about this..."   
  
Padme frowned in confusion. "Why wouldn't he? Oh...its not like that! Micold is a good friend, that's all."   
  
"Of course, your highness."   
  
Padme scowled. "Don't start this...Anyway, how is Sabe doing with the preparations for the election?"   
  
"She is making excellent progress, your majesty. She is trying to bury herself in her work to help her forget about her recent loss..."   
  
"What loss?"   
  
"Her loss of Anakin Skywalker to you, your highness..."   
  
"She loved Ani?!" Padme cried.   
  
"Yes...And his master apparently was in love with Sabe, so he is quite upset too..."   
  
"Oh, great. Why is everything so complicated in this galaxy?!"   
  
Rabe nodded. "I know how you feel, your highness. I hate love triangles..."   
  
"This isn't a triangle, it's more like a pentagon...Oh, don't tell me you and Rabe are fighting over Master Yoda..."   
  
"Erm...not exactly, your majesty."   
  
There was a hiss as the door to the waiting room slid open, and Anakin strode in. "Hi."   
  
Padme smiled at him. "Hello, Ani."   
  
He smiled back. "How's Mic?"   
  
"He mysteriously had his leg shattered," said Padme.   
  
"Mysteriously my foot..." muttered Rabe.   
  
Anakin put a hand on Padme's shoulder. "I know, I heard."   
  
She looked up into his eyes...those wonderful, blue oceans..."His screams weren't that loud, surely!"   
  
"They were through the Force...I think that was the second most painful sensation I've ever felt from him..."   
  
"Oh dear..." Padme looked down guiltily... "What was the most painful?"   
  
"Uh...Yane, you might want to cover your ears."   
  
The handmaiden smiled. At least someone could remember her name. "Why is that?"   
  
"Oh, Ani, it can't be that bad..." Padme said, ignoring the mistake she had made about the handmaiden's identity.   
  
"Ok..." Anakin took a deep breath. "It was when he found you and I...on his bed...y'know..."   
  
She covered her mouth with a hand in shock. "So I've been responsible for the three most painful moments in his life..." she said, mostly to herself.   
  
"Three?" Anakin looked puzzled. He'd never been that great at maths, but something wasn't right here...   
  
"Oh..um..." Padme stared at Anakin's muddy boots sheepishly. "It was just an accident we had when we were kids..."   
  
"What'd you do to him?!"   
  
"My uncle was baby-sitting us, but he'd forgot he had a meeting to go to...so he told us to stay in his speeder for a while. While there I got bored and I wanted to hear some music...So, I started playing around with the controls but I couldn't get it to work..." She laughed a little. "Then Mic said 'Well, I guess I could hot-wire it...'. So I let him try, and he...got electrocuted."   
  
Anakin winced. "Gee, Mic doesn't have much luck, does he?"   
  
"Yeah...and I just sat there, screaming, while the blue lights flashed all over the place and flowed through him...It didn't stop until the battery was dead...and that took about twelve minutes."   
  
"Holy sith! That should have killed him...."   
  
"I know...that was when we found out he was a Jedi...and he got taken away from me and his family and sent to the temple...great, I guess I was responsible for the *four* most painful moments in his life. He really didn't want to leave..."   
  
"Yeah, a lot of guys back at the temple said he was real lonely when he arrived..."   
  
"Guys? Don't you have any girls at Jedi School?"   
  
"Uh..." Now Anakin began to look sheepish. "We do, but Obi-Wan banned me from seeing them ever since the 'Night of The Phantom Holo-Cam'."   
  
Padme sighed. "I don't want to know where you had that camera!"   
  
"Its ok, it was water-proof! And I knew what I was doing. I did it here once...oops."   
  
"Ani!! Where did you have that camera?!"   
  
"Uh-oh."   
  
"Tell me!"   
  
Anakin grinned at her, and ran back out the door. "You'll have to catch me and interrogate it out of me!" he called over his shoulder.   
  
"You're in big trouble, Skywalker!" Padme called back, racing out the door after him.   
  
**   
  
Anakin's feet squealed along the marble floor of the main hallway, as he sprinted towards the huge wooden door. He slowed to a jog as he concentrated, and the door flew open before him. He continued sprinting, hearing a rather unregal curse behind him. He smirked, and then jumped down the steps at the front of the palace, flipping around no less than three times and landing perfectly on his feet. He heard a groan from the top of the stairs, and turned to see Padme standing just outside the palace entrance, glaring at him. He grinned back. "I win."  
  
"No likely," she said, and hopped onto a silver railing. She tried to fit her robe around herself so it wouldn't get caught up, held the cold metal between her knees, and started sliding down towards him.  
  
"Dammit. Don't you ever give up?"  
  
"Do you?"  
  
"Not if the cause is cute enough..." Anakin said, turning around and racing across the plaza.  
  
Padme cursed. On holo-vision it always seemed to easy to slide down these things, but for her it was very uncomfortable, and cold, and slow. "I should have just took the stairs..." she muttered.  
  
Anakin ran ahead, but he was continually looking over his shoulder, watching Padme's progress. She didn't seem to be having much fun and she hung upside down at the foot of the stairs, robes tangled up in the railing. A scarlet-clad Naboo guard was trying to assist her, as was a blue-clothed civilian. Anakin smirked at her highness' undignified position. He glanced forward again, and swore. He skidded to a halt, and his shins smashed into a block of stone. He stumbled forward, and then pulled himself back, just avoiding falling into the fountain in the center of the plaza.   
  
"That was too close..." he said to himself, sitting on the stone rim of the fountain and rubbing his legs. He watched Padme standing upright, dusting off her robes, and sheepishly thanking the guard and civilian. He grinned, and looked around the rest of the plaza. It was quite busy for such a small, peaceful planet. The warm weather must have brought lots of people outdoors...  
  
He looked back at Padme, who was advancing towards him. "Uh-oh," he breathed, struggling to his feet. His shins still hurt, and by the time he had got to his feet, Padme was standing on them, digging her heels into his boots. "Hi!" he said, cheerfully.  
  
"Anakin Skywalker! You are in big trouble, boy!""Boy?" Anakin glared down into her eyes, and then smirked. "I'm not the one who stands on people's toes and is still way shorter than them, little girl."  
  
"Oh..that's it!" Padme fumed. "I order you to tell me what you did with that camera!!"  
  
"Order? Since when do short people order me around?"  
  
"Since you met Master Yoda?"  
  
Anakin laughed. "True, I guess. But you're not wrinkly, and you don't have big ears...well your not wrinkly, at least...not much."  
  
"You're getting yourself in deeper trouble with every word, fly boy! And just what is wrong with my ears?"  
  
"Nothing, your highness," Anakin said, bowing slightly. He kept his head low, adding "They look good enough to eat." He stuck out his tongue and began poking at her ear.  
  
"Hey!" Padme cried, stepping back off his feet. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"I..sorry..." Anakin looked down at the ground. He noticed his boots were quite badly dented.  
  
"I need those ears for you to whisper nice things into, you can't eat them," she said, grinning.  
  
Anakin looked up again. "Oh, right..Sorry." He grinned back, and began to step forward.  
  
Padme put her hands on his chest. "You're not going anywhere just now though."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because...do you remember the bridge?"  
  
Anakin grimaced. "Yeah...But you forgave me for that...right?"  
  
"Yes, but I still haven't had revenge for that."  
  
Anakin glanced behind him. "But...Jedi don't seek revenge!" he protested.  
  
"Then it is just as well that I am not a Jedi..." she said sweetly, smiling innocently at him. She grunted, and shoved him backwards, sending the padawan stumbling into the fountain. Anakin landed, sitting in the water, with a half-bird-half-human statue carved from the rock spraying water onto his head. Padme kneeled beside the rim of the fountain, laughing so hard she was holding her stomach and resting her head on the stone.  
  
"That wasn't funny!" cried Anakin.  
  
"Oh, believe me, it was," she said through her laughter. "Who looks like the drowned womprat now, padawan?"  
  
"Still you," Anakin said, and splashed some water over her head with his foot. He laughed as Padme squealed and sat up.  
  
"You little...That was cold!!"  
  
"Good," said Anakin, grinning mischievously at her. He held out a dripping hand. "Now, would you be so kind as to help me out?"  
  
Padme held out her hand to him briefly, then pulled it sharply away before he could get a grip on it. "No chance, Ani! I'm not falling for that one."  
  
"What one?" he asked, his smile now innocent.  
  
"The one where I be kind and help you out and then you pull me in there with you! It's not going to happen!"  
  
Anakin looked shocked. "I'd never do anything like that. You can trust me," he said, waving his hand slightly.  
  
"Oh, alright...I suppose I have to get you out somehow..." Padme sighed. She stood up, and gripped Anakin's hand, and was pulled forward onto him. She screamed as the cold water engulfed her.  
  
"Oops. I slipped," said Anakin, putting his arms around her.  
  
Padme raised her head, and spat a mouthful of water into Anakin's face. "Now you owe me *two* new dresses, Skywalker!"  
  
"Uh...actually it's three."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I..er...accidently ripped that green one you wore when you came to see me the night before last."  
  
Padme beamed at him. "I wonder how that happened," she said. Anakin was sure she also winked...  
  
"Uh...cos it got caught on the strap of my chrono, actually..."  
  
"Oh. Well, you still have to buy me a replacement."  
  
Anakin groaned. "You mean I've got to go shopping with you? That's a pretty harsh punishment."  
  
"Hey!" Padme said, slapping his chest lightly. "You might enjoy it, shopping on Naboo is a lot more peaceful than on the Capital World, you know."  
  
"Yeah but I bet the shops aren't as exciting..."  
  
Padme rolled her eyes. "Men! Come on, the sooner we're out of here the sooner we can start shopping!"  
  
"Yeah, right," said Anakin, holding Padme tighter. "That's why I'm not moving out of here for a long time."  
  
"Fine," said Padme, sweetly. "We can sit here in the cold and never get out of these wet clothes..."  
  
There was a great amount of splashing as Anakin jumped up out of the fountain and raced towards the palace. Padme sat up, shaking her head. "Men..." she muttered. She turned around, noticing a group of children standing by the fountain, watching her and giggling. "And just what are you staring at?" she said, splashing them with water and then racing after Anakin.  
  
**  
  
Anakin stood at the top of the stairs to the Palace entrance, gazing out across the plaza. He was now warm and dry, but he didn't much like the robe Padme had made him wear. It was one of her old, grey handmaiden's robes, and felt far too small for him. He smiled, despite the discomfort, knowing it was worth it to be with Padme while changing. Especially when she stared tickling his scars... He glanced around again, but there was still no sign of Padme. She had insisted on getting changed on her own, and then said she had an errand to run before meeting him here. He turned, sensing her presence inside the main hall, and opened the heavy wooden door. "What took you so long?"  
  
Padme stepped out of the cool, dark hall into the hot sunlight. It was strangely dry for the storm season...perhaps the one a few days ago had only been a fluke. She looked at Anakin, and giggled. "I hope you know a lot of responsibility comes with that uniform, Ani." Anakin smiled at her. "Anyway," she continued, "I had to check on Micold before leaving."  
  
"How is he?" asked Anakin, as they began to walk down the steps and through the plaza.  
  
"He...um...has mysteriously sustained a concussion," Padme said, her eyes on the ground.  
  
"Hmm, how did that happen?"  
  
"His lightsaber handle fell off the nightstand and landed on his head."  
  
"Did it fall, or was it pushed?" asked Anakin sarcastically.  
  
"Don't start...anyway he wants us to buy him something too."  
  
"Ok, what's he want."  
  
"Just..something."  
  
Anakin looked sceptically at Padme. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean he just wants us to get him something. He's getting a little lonely and depressed..."  
  
"Aw, poor Mic...lets get him a pet."  
  
Padme sighed. "They won't allow animals in the infirmary."  
  
"Hmm...how about some magazines?"  
  
"Mic's too intellectual for silly little articles. And he's read all the interesting books from the palace library."  
  
"But...how about ones with pictures?"  
  
"What? He still remembers how to read, Ani."  
  
"Not those types of pictures..."  
  
Padme rolled her eyes. "Mic's not like that, Ani...."  
  
"Me either!"  
  
"You better not be..."  
  
Anakin thought for a while, and then spoke up again. "Speaking of Micold's memory, why did he tell me he didn't know your name when I first found out he knew you?"  
  
Padme shrugged. "He didn't often use my name...and he sometimes forgets little things like that. It's just another of his little...problems."  
  
Anakin laughed. "He's just one little problem in himself." His voice then became more sombre. "I'll miss him.."  
  
"He's not going to die, Ani."  
  
"I don't see how you can save him. It's not legal for the senate to interfere with the Jedi Council," he protested.  
  
"I will make it legal!" she said, sharply.  
  
Anakin fell silent, and they strode side-by-side through the main plaza of Theed, and then headed down a wide street.  
  
"We'll start here," said Padme, cheerily.  
  
Anakin looked up. They had stopped outside a massive stone building, that looked like a very ornately designed and decorated starfighter hangar. He swallowed. "That's one whole shop?"  
  
"Well, it has several departments. They are arranged alphabetically, with around five on each floor. Which letter shall we start with?"  
  
"Uh...how about 'L'," said Anakin, hopefully.  
  
Padme looked puzzled for a moment, then groaned. "No way, Skywalker. We'll start at A."  
  
"What can you get in the A section?"  
  
"Alien, Alternative, Air-tight...."  
  
"Cool!"  
  
Padme rolled her eyes, grasped Anakin's hand, and pulled him into the store.  
  
**  
  
Hours passed.  
  
**  
  
Anakin sighed. He gazed around the crowded store, and noticed a sign indicating that he had reached the 'W' section. He glanced around at the collection of synthetic Wookie-furs and wetsuits. "Cool," muttered Anakin.  
  
There was a strange "bing-bong" noise overhead, and a crackly voice echoed through the room. "Would Anakin Skywalker please report to Customer Services."  
  
Anakin groaned. Now he had to go all the way back to the 'C' section...at least he'd escaped Padme for twenty minutes. If he heard her ask one more time if her butt looked big in something he was going to scream...  
  
**  
  
Anakin leaned against the Customer Services desk, and smiled at the Twi'Lek assistant. "Hi. You wanted to see me?" he asked, winking.  
  
The Twi'Lek girl glanced up at him and smirked. "You are Anakin Skywalker?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Your girlfriend was looking for you."  
  
Anakin looked around nervously. "Girlfriend?" He spotted Padme, sitting in a plush grey chair by a changing area, glaring at him. "Since when were you my girlfriend?"  
  
"Well, I hope don't stay up all night kissing with your other friends...otherwise I'd feel very sorry for Mic and Obi-Wan.." said Padme, still glaring.  
  
"Uh...I have a girlfriend? Cool!"  
  
"Stop saying that word!!"  
  
"Sorry. Find anything nice?"  
  
"Yes, actually," Padme said, holding out a frilly, white dress.  
  
Anakin laughed. "Padme, that's a wedding dress."  
  
She glanced at it, then smiled at him. "Oh my, so it is..." She stood up, and began to walk away. "Come on, we've got another two dresses for me to find!"  
  
Anakin groaned again, and followed her.  
  
**  
  
Anakin trailed behind Padme, stumbling along the dull, beige carpet of the store. The room was far too warm, even for someone brought up on Tatooine, and he felt very, very sleepy. None of his trails or training as a Jedi Padawan had made him feel so weary... He glanced up, and noticed Padme had led him to the 'S' section. "Cool..." he said, under his breath.  
  
Padme whirled around and looked sharply at him. "I thought I told you to stop saying that word!!"  
  
Anakin blinked, very surprised she had managed to hear him. "Women..." he muttered. He looked around the section. "Say, Padme...there's a lot of swimwear around here..."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So shouldn't you invest in something...waterproof?"  
  
If looks could kill, Anakin would be a pile of dust on the carpet. "Very funny, Ani," Padme said, sarcastically.  
  
Anakin grinned at her. "Master Obi-Wan says I should be a comedian if my Jedi Training fails."  
  
Padme rolled her eyes, and then glanced around. "Actually," she said, "You're right."  
  
"I am?"  
  
"Yes...I need something water-proof..." she said, fingering some brightly coloured sarongs.  
  
Anakin looked at some of the electronic displays hovering over the racks of swimwear. "Whoa! How can something made of so little material be so expensive?"  
  
"That's fashion for you, Ani. And seeing as you're paying, I get the feeling you'll be willing to pay more for less material..." Padme smirked at him.  
  
"Uh...." Anakin went slightly red. "Good point."  
  
Padme looked away from him, searching the racks. "Hmm...which colour?"  
  
"Pink?"  
  
"No, that's more of a winter colour..."  
  
Anakin almost choked. "What?!"  
  
Padme looked up at him. "What's wrong?"  
  
"What on Naboo is a 'Winter Colour'?!" he cried.  
  
Padme shook her head. "Men...."  
  
Anakin sighed. "How about yellow?"  
  
"That's more autumn," said Padme, smiling to herself as she heard Anakin curse.  
  
"Blue?" asked Anakin, taking a wild shot in the dark.  
  
"Yes, blue's nice...do I suit blue?"  
  
"How should I know?!"  
  
Padme sighed. "You're not being very helpful, Ani..."  
  
Anakin groaned in frustration. Padme giggled, picking a sky-blue swimsuit off a steel rack.  
  
"Two down, one to go..." Anakin said, quietly.  
  
Padme glanced at him. "Not yet. I need to get some sandals to go with this," she said, trying to hide a grin. "And we need to get four things. Remember Mic?" she added, smiling to herself again at Anakin's sighing and swearing.  
  
"Women..." he muttered, checking the time on his chrono.  
  
**  
  
A brown-robed figure strode into the bright infirmary. He narrowed his eyes against the glare of sunlight streaming through the tall windows, and pulled back his hood to reveal a bearded face. He glanced around, and saw another robed and cowled figure at foot of an empty bed. He walked over to her. "Ah, Rabe."  
  
Yane glared at him. People always got the names of the handmaidens wrong.... "Yes?" she asked, irritably.  
  
"Where's padawan Micold?"  
  
"He is in the bathroom," she answered quickly while busying herself with making his bed.  
  
"Would it be alright if I waited for him here? It is rather urgent..."  
  
"Yes, but you'll be in for a long wait..."  
  
Obi-Wan looked around, concerned. "What's wrong now?"  
  
"He...erm..." Yane looked up from fluffing up a pillow. "His lunch was accidentally undercooked. I'm afraid he has food poisoning."  
  
Obi-Wan sighed. "Accidentally, you say?"  
  
Yane looked down at the bed uncomfortably. "As far as we are aware..."  
  
"Typical..." Obi-Wan said. "Well, thank you for your time. Um..." Obi-Wan glanced around uncomfortably himself. "Do you happen to know where Sabe is by any chance?"  
  
"She is on the throne I believe."  
  
Obi-Wan looked puzzled. "She's with Micold?"  
  
Yane rolled her eyes. These city-planet people were so uncouth. "Not that throne, Jedi Kenobi."  
  
"Oh, I see..." He nodded to her, and left the room.  
  
**  
  
Anakin continued to follow Padme, holding onto a few of her fingers very loosely. He noticed a very firm, uncomfortable, dull-coloured chair against a high stone pillar. Cool, he thought, sliding his fingers away from Padme's and slouching in the seat. He sighed happily, and gazed upwards. A hovering sign indicated he was now in the 'J' section. "What the...?" he muttered. A cool hand patted him on the head. He looked around. "Uh-oh..."  
  
Padme smiled down at him. "You found it, thanks Ani."  
  
"Found what?"  
  
"What's 'J' stand for?" she asked, her smile turning into a familiar smirk.  
  
"Jedi?"  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
Anakin glanced around. He noticed a glass cabinet full of gleaming metallic objects set with equally shiny precious stones. "Um....Jewellery?"  
  
Padme patted him on the head again. "Correct! Let's go look at them."  
  
Anakin sighed as he was dragged over to the cabinet. "That's...sorta nice," he said, pointing to a silvery necklace with a carving of a winged girl made from diamond attached to it.  
  
Padme glanced at it, then returned her attention to some round, golden objects. "I suppose it is. You've always liked angels....Aren't these pretty though?"  
  
Anakin looked at the diamond rings, and swallowed, hard. "Uh...yeah. Not as pretty as a mirror though..."  
  
"When I look in it or when you do?"  
  
Anakin grinned. "Both."  
  
Padme rolled her eyes, and pointed to a very organic looking, organic for metal anyway, ring. It was shaped like a heart, and had a very large, perfectly shaped diamond sphere set in it. "Isn't that one beautiful? It's my favourite..."  
  
Anakin looked where she pointed. "Number 1138?"  
  
Padme laughed. "That's the price, not the number."  
  
"Eleven hundred and thirty eight credits?!"  
  
"Yes, it's a strange number. It's because some very kind Naboo Queen abolished several taxes," she said, beaming.  
  
"It's still a pretty big number...That's gotta be almost a whole month's salary for me."  
  
"Perfect..." she said, quietly.  
  
Anakin winced. I have a bad feeling about this, he thought.  
  
**  
  
A shaft of blue light spiked through the center of the throne room. It shimmered in front of the slouching Queen, who looked up sharply. "What is it?"  
  
The light wavered, and finally morphed into a dark blue, semi-transparent hooded and robed figure. "Where is the Queen?"  
  
"I am the Queen. Why wasn't I notified of this transmission?"  
  
The hologram sighed. "She's still playing those stupid games with her dopplegangers...Inform the true Queen when she returns that Lord Sidious demands she contact him immediately," it finished, irritably. The light flashed again, and disappeared. The Queen closed her eyes against the glare as the holoprojector shut off.  
  
"He didn't seem to be in a very good mood..."  
  
Sabe opened her eyes again, and saw a hooded Jedi Knight striding across the room towards her. She sighed. "What is it now, Kenobi?"  
  
Obi-Wan pulled back his hood and glanced around nervously. "I was just wondering how you're feeling."  
  
Sabe glared at him. "How do you think I'm feeling? I have an election to organise, I have a planet to run, I have to take on Amidala's identity and responsibilities without any of the perks! I'm in a very bad mood."  
  
"Oh...what sort of perks? Surely you're entitled to---"  
  
"Yes, I get a slightly larger bed than everyone else and have all the nice clothes and meals cooked for me...but I don't have a hunky Jedi doting after me..."  
  
Obi-Wan smiled. "There's more than one Jedi around here you know..."  
  
Sabe glanced at her. "There's only one Chosen One..."  
  
Obi-Wan looked down sadly. "I see..."  
  
Sabe watched him, puzzled. She finally decided to break the awkward silence. "Is there anything else?"  
  
Obi-Wan looked up again. "I don't know...I just wanted someone to talk to."  
  
"What about padawan Micold?"  
  
Obi-Wan laughed. "Trying to talk to him is impossible. He's so depressed..."  
  
"Having an execution sentence over you will do that. A death mark is not an easy thing to live with, Obi-Wan."  
  
"I know...but I think what's hurting him most is Padme."  
  
"Yes, the other handmaidens have been saying she has 'accidentally' injured him on several occasions so he cannot go to Coruscant to face trial."  
  
Obi-Wan smiled grimly. "What trial? The Jedi Council have already made there decision... But I don't think that's what's bothering him the most...I think it's mostly been the *emotional* pain Padme's put him through..."  
  
Sabe nodded. "Everyone prefers the true Queen," she said bitterly.  
  
"Not everyone, dear," said Obi-Wan, placing an arm around her.  
  
Sabe sighed. "Obi-Wan...."  
  
"I know...you don't think it was meant to be...but remember, I *am* a Jedi," he said, smiling down at her.  
  
She smiled back. "Alright...at least I don't have to be alone anymore...Please...hold me."  
  
**   
  
Anakin sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day. He leaned back in the uncomfortable seat wearily, and closed his eyes. He heard the swishing of a curtain being opened.   
  
"What do you think?"   
  
Anakin groaned. "I don't think you needed to bother trying on a bathrobe to see if it fits, Pad..."   
  
Padme smiled at Anakin. "You're not even looking! Were you asleep?"   
  
"Almost...and I don't need to look, its a bathrobe, what do I know about bathrobe fashions?"   
  
"Actually," Padme said, innocently, "I put the bathrobe back. I've got plenty of my own..."   
  
"So what're you trying on now?"   
  
"Well I've just been to the 'L' section..." Padme giggled as Anakin's eyes snapped open. "So...what do you think of my pink leggings?"   
  
Anakin sagged. "Oh...uh...they're nice."   
  
Padme glared at him. "What's wrong? Is it the colour?"   
  
"No, nothings wrong with the colour."   
  
"I see...does my butt look bi--"   
  
"NO!"   
  
Padme grinned mischievously at him. "Good. Well that's me got my three things, I'll just change and we'll go find something for Mic."   
  
Anakin nodded, then looked puzzled. "Three?"   
  
"Yes, I got something else out of the L section," she said, sweetly, as she pulled the curtain shut again.   
  
Anakin blinked, then grinned. "Cool!"   
  
**   
  
Anakin glanced up at a stone pillar as he was dragged along a zig-zagging aisle. He noticed Padme had taken him to the 'U' section. "What're we here for?"   
  
"Underwear," Padme said simply.   
  
Anakin's eyes went wide. "B-but.."   
  
"Men's underwear, Ani. Its for Micold...I get the feeling he's going to need some extra."   
  
Anakin glanced around, bewildered. "Why?"   
  
"Because he came down with a stomach bug around lunch time and has to keep running to the bathroom every few minutes. And he's always been a slow runner..."   
  
Anakin laughed. "How do you know this? You weren't in the palace at lunch time."   
  
"Yeah, but I helped Sache make the lunches this morning. Or Yane or Rabe or someone..."   
  
"Padme! You can't remember the names of your best friends?"   
  
"Neither can Mic...anyway they don't mind, people get them mixed up all the time."   
  
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Ok...can I see the stuff you've bought?"   
  
"No," said Padme, shaking her head.   
  
"Why not?!"   
  
"Because I don't want you getting it all creased. Anyway," she said, picking up a box from a shelf, "We've got all we need, so lets go pay for it. The store will be closing soon."   
  
"Great, my favourite part," muttered Anakin, pulling a brown wallet from his robes.   
  
"I think you'll need your card, Ani," Padme said sweetly, grinning to herself as Anakin groaned. "Don't worry, after this I'll take you somewhere nice."   
  
Anakin perked up. "Where?"   
  
"Seeing as you love water so much, let's go to Theed Harbour."   
  
"Theed has a Harbour? Coo--ow!" Anakin winced as Padme slid her heel off his foot.   
  
"Stop using that word!"   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Because it's childish!"   
  
"And dressing up in clothes that are too big for you and playing with make-up isn't?"   
  
Padme opened her mouth to give a retort, but couldn't think of any. She closed it again, frustrated. She gritted her teeth as Anakin laughed behind her.   
  
**   
  
Anakin slumped down on a cold, stone bench and gazed out across the shimmering waters of Theed Harbour. He dropped a bright, plastic bag on the ground at his feet, and sighed with relief. The bags seemed a little heavy for just three items of clothing without much material in them and a box of shorts, and the big rock in his pocket didn't help much either. Still, at least his bank account was a lot lighter now...   
  
Padme noticed that the Anakin wasn't beside her anymore. She glanced around, and found Anakin sitting on a little stone chair at the edge of the water. She smiled. "Careful you don't fall in again, Skywalker."   
  
"I will if you will," said Anakin, winking at her.   
  
"No thanks, it's a little chilly. The sun's setting..."   
  
"Yeah...Wanna come watch it with me?"   
  
Padme raised an eyebrow at him. "There's only one seat, and you've taken it."   
  
Anakin shrugged. "You can sit in my lap if you want..."   
  
"No thanks...I'm not a pet."   
  
Anakin stood out of the seat. "Alright, your highness, you have the seat," he said, motioning for her to sit down.   
  
She strode over to him, and regally placed herself in the chair. "Thank you, Padawan Skywalker...but where will you sit? And don't even think of sitting on me," she finished, her eyes narrowing menacingly.   
  
Anakin bowed to her. "Of course not, your highness. The thought never entered my mind...actually I was just going to kneel beside you like a loyal pet should," he said, lowering himself on one knee beside Padme's makeshift throne.   
  
Padme arced her eyebrow again. "Are you up to something, Skywalker? I swear if you dare throw me in--" she was cut short as Anakin held a small, black velvet box out before her. He flipped it open, and the a huge jewel glittered on a shimmering golden ring. Padme gasped. "Oh...Ani. Is this what you were up to when you said you had to use the bathroom?"   
  
"Yep. And I've done some research...I think I'm memorised the traditional poem for this occasion..."   
  
"Oh, Ani..."   
  
Anakin cleared his throat, and began to almost sing an ancient Naboo poem, which reflected how the ring of marriage would keep the pair bonded together through all their troubles: "Three rings for Naboo-kings under the sky,   
Seven for the Sith-lords in their halls of stone,   
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,   
One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne---"   
  
"Oh, Ani..."   
  
"In this Land of Ours where the Shadows lie,   
One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them   
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them   
In this Land of Ours where the Shadows lie."   
  
"Oh, Ani..."   
  
"Padme Amidala Naberrie...will you, please...marry me?"   
  
"Yes," Padme breathed. "I will, Ani."   
  
He stood, and gathered her up in his arms. They held each other, embracing and kissing, until the need for oxygen halted them. The broke off, held hands, and gazed up into the sky. Above them, a small collection of blocky, crimson starships sailed quietly overhead, escorted by a much larger collection of sleeker, smaller blue ships. The larger ones suddenly erupted with bright green, searing laser fire.   
  
**   
  
A middle-aged man lay sprawled in a deck-chair on a the porch of a large, old fashioned farmhouse. He gazed across the grassy plain, arms resting behind his head, and almost jumped out of his skin as two huge, blocky ships, soared through the valley before him, surrounded by smaller, blue ships. "Lore!" he called. "That's the third damn wave in ten minutes! This is no diplomatic mission!"   
  
"I'm sure it's just a lots of diplomats. There's probably another anniversary celebration in Theed," a female voice echoed through the door.   
  
"That'll be the sixth this year! And the guests never arrived in warships before. I fear our daughter has just gotted us into a war..."   
  
**   
  
A bright, burning light speared through the tall windows of the throne room, illuminating two robed figures, entangled together in a ornate chair. Obi-Wan broke off from Sabe and glanced up, narrowing his eyes against the flashing glare outside.   
  
"What's wrong, Ben?" asked Sabe.   
  
"What on earth is going on outside?" asked Obi-Wan, lifting himself reluctantly off Sabe and striding over to the window.   
  
Sabe slid out of the throne and followed him. She gazed outside, and saw shining blue triangles swarming above the streets of Theed, green lasers screeching from them and turning anything they touched into a burning wreck. "Oh sith!!"   
  
Obi-Wan's eyes flickered around, trying to catch a decent glimpse of the lethal blue triangles. Suddenly, the firing ceased, and silence fell. He began to breathe again, and heard a horrid thumping noise. Despite his excitement a few moments ago in the throne, the thumping wasn't coming from his heart. He glanced up, and saw a group of three blocky, crimson starships soaring over the burning gardens and buildings of Theed, vomiting thick, red lasers down into the city. Fireballs erupted from the buildings hit by the blasts, and the streets were dented with craters. Obi-Wan closed his eyes sadly. "Those ships are from the Jedi council..." he said.   
  
**   
  
The dim hall bustled with senators, chatting quietly in their hovering boxes. Chancellor Palpatine glanced around as the final few beings shuffled into the emergency meeting he had called. He waited for them to sit down, heard his aide call for order, and began his hastily prepared speech. "I have called you all to this emergency assembly in order to inform you all of a terrible act committed against our Republic. The Jedi Council, in a completely unprovoked attack, bombarded Theed, the capital city of Naboo, this evening. I therefore have no choice but to announce that this Republic is at war with the Jedi. However, to minimise the loss off innocent lives, I move that the senate vote immediately on the commissioning of a Clone Army...Today...shall be a day remember in infamy! We shall defend ourselves to the uttermost, and ensure that never again shall we be endangered by such treachery!" Palpatine finished, bellowing. The crowded senate chamber erupted into applause.   
  
**   
  
Jace Naberrie raised silver blaster in one hand and rested the other against the door frame. He took aim at the dark robed figure striding towards him, as his wife, Lore, held him tightly from behind. More and more of those blocky red and sleek blue ships soared overhead. "What do you want?" he asked the figure, angrily.   
  
"Where is the boy?" came the smooth reply.   
  
"Boy? What boy? Get the hell off my property!"   
  
"Where is the boy?" the figure repeated, striding closer. He reached into his robes. Jace suspected he was drawing a weapon, and squeezed the trigger of his silver pistol, twice. The green blots seared through the air towards the figure, and there was a hissing sound as a thick blue beam shot up in front of the figure. The two bolts snapped off the blade, and flew straight back at Jace and Lore Naberrie. The figure continued to advance, only breaking his stride to step over the bodies slumped in the doorway.   
  
**   
  
Night fell over Theed, but the city continued to be illuminated by the burning ruins and the lasers causing them. Two robed figures, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Queen's decoy, Sabe, huddled together in the throne room, sobbing in the dim, flickering light. Obi-Wan's streaked face snapped up as he sensed a familiar presence behind the heavy wooden door. The door slid open, and a bald, dark skinned man strode into the room. Obi-Wan nodded slightly to him. "Master Windu."   
  
"Ah, Obi-Wan, Sabe. You both seem to be having a bad hair day," he said to the dishevelled pair.   
  
"Master what a--"   
  
"What the hell is going on here?" Sabe cut in, angrily.   
  
Mace Windu lowered his head. "Your...tunic seems to be torn," he said, awkwardly.   
  
Sabe frowned and gathered her robes around herself, covering a tear in her tunic that she had no idea had been there...It was probably Obi-Wan's doing. She shook the pleasant memories from her head and glared at the dark Jedi Master. "Why have the council attacked Naboo?"   
  
Mace Windu sighed. "Where is the boy?" he asked, smoothly.   
  
"What bo--"   
  
"You're after Micold?" asked Obi-Wan.   
  
"Yes. The Sith Boy...where is he?"   
  
"He isn't a Sith, master!" Obi-Wan protested. "This has all been a misunderstanding!"   
  
Mace shook his head. "I'm afraid the council disagrees. He infiltrated our temple, as evident from his joining at a late age. He became 'friends' with the Chosen One and, when he grew close enough, tried to destroy him and cover it up with some love story. He is a grave danger to our future and must be destroyed!"   
  
"That is hardly evidence to say he is a sith or is dangerous!"   
  
"He has been hiding here, pretending to be ill!"   
  
"He has not been hiding!" screamed Obi-Wan and Sabe together.   
  
"Are you saying these remarkable accidents that he's been reported to be having are actually happening?" Obi-Wan and Sabe exchanged a glance. Mace Windu snorted. "I can sense that this is not the case."   
  
"If you can sense that then why can't you sense where he is?" said Obi-Wan, bitterly.   
  
"He is very good at masking his presence...A trick that you are also adept at, I believe."   
  
Obi-Wan glared at Mace. "You think I taught him that?"   
  
"It is possible...now, show us to him, we shall carry out our business, and leave you in peace."   
  
"This bombardment was not necessary to find Micold!!" a voice screamed from behind the Jedi Masters. Sabe looked up, and saw Padme stalking angrily through the door, followed by Anakin.   
  
"Then tell us where he is," Mace said, in his deep, smooth voice.   
  
Padme shook her head, but Anakin put his hands on her shoulders and whispered something softly in her ear. She nodded, sadly. "Alright...he's in the infirmary. Its to the left when you entered the main hall..."   
  
Windu bowed. "Thank you, your highness." He turned and strode out of the room.   
  
Padme swore loudly, and dropped to her knees, shaking. Anakin lowered himself beside her, holding her tightly as the thundering noise of the bombardment died away...   
  
**  
  
A group of robed figures crowded through the doorway into the infirmary. The chamber was mostly untouched by the bombardment, with only one window having been smashed open. Glass had showered Micold's empty bed.  
  
"Where is the boy?" asked Mace Windu, angrily.  
  
Obi-Wan glanced at the Jedi Master, his face clouded with confusion. It wasn't like Mace to be angry with anything. He had always been so mellow. The threat of the Sith must be badly affecting the Council. He followed Mace and the others to the bedside, and kicked aside some glass shards on the floor. Mace threw the covers off the bed. Padme glanced around, nervously. "Where is Micold?" she whispered to Anakin.  
  
Anakin shook his head. "I can't feel him an--"  
  
"Right here," came a voice behind them. The group whirled around simultaneously, and saw Micold striding through the doors to the infirmary, wearing a black tunic. Mace Windu ignited his lightsaber, and threw it like a spear towards Micold. The padawan slumped forward, his heart impaled, and closed his eyes.  
  
Padme howled in emotional agony. Anakin felt his own eyes welling with tears, and Sabe and Obi-Wan continued to sob quietly to themselves. The three Jedi in the room looked at the door, as a familiar presence could be felt behind it. Micold strode into the room, dressed in a black tunic.  
  
"What the hell is this?" snapped Mace Windu, pulling his saber back to his hands with the Force. Another Micold strode into the room, again dressed in black.  
  
Padme's eyes grew wide with shock. "Clones..." she whispered. Anakin glanced at her, and then looked up as a familiar face, also in a black tunic, strode through the door behind the two Micolds.  
  
"Now, Master Windu, your Jedi forces are retreating under the advance of the Republic Army, and you shall be the one who is arrested and tried, not Micold," said Chancellor Palpatine, smugly. His gaze fell on Padme and Anakin. "Don't worry, the real Micold is quite safe on board the Royal Starship."  
  
"These are clones?" asked Anakin.  
  
"Yes, the senate immediately ratified the motion to create a united Republic Army to defend systems, such as Naboo, who were unjustly attacked. I'm afraid we couldn't quite prepare the clones in time to stop the bombardment, but the Jedi occupying Theed have been forced back."  
  
"This is impossible," said Obi-Wan. "I can sense these clones, they are strong in the Force....They are *all* Micold."  
  
Palpatine nodded. "Yes, I know any early experiments into cloning technology left a rather empty shell, and Jedi and scanners could easily detect they were not real, but things have advanced a lot since then. We can even synthesize midichlorians to give the clones some Jedi abilities. Of course they are not as powerful as the real thing, but they have still managed to defeat a rather large task force of Jedi."  
  
Padme frowned. "The Senate banned research into cloning technology generations ago, how could you have gained such advancements?"  
  
Palpatine glanced around awkwardly. "Well, there have been illegal experiments going on behind closed doors. I had just tracked down the largest perpetrators mere weeks ago, but their findings have greatly helped us. It is in the common interest of the galaxy that we have an army that is both efficient and expendable, therefore innocent lives are not lost."  
  
Padme nodded. "May we see Micold?"  
  
"Of course. He and the rest of the Jedi have been recalled by the council, but I'm sure they won't mind if you hold him here a little longer."  
  
"I think the sooner we have this mess sorted out, the better. I'll come with you to Coruscant."  
  
"Very well, we shall leave as soon as you are ready...but don't you have an election to prepare for?"  
  
"The election can take care of itself," said Sabe. "The result is already a mostly forgone conclusion. Soon we shall have Queen Mothma ruling us. You should go, your highness."  
  
Padme smiled at her decoy. "Only if you come with us. I'm sure you don't want to let Jedi Obi-Wan out of your sight." She turned back to Palpatine, and her tone became more sombre. "Is there any word on casualties of the bombardment?"  
  
Palpatine visibly winced at the question. "I'm afraid Theed was hit quite badly, as was the surrounding countryside." He heard Padme gasp, and lowered his head. "There were no survivors in the outlying farms...I'm sorry." He gritted his teeth as he heard Padme beginning to sob again, and glared darkly at the Jedi Master who had taken the life of his sister.  
  
**  
  
Twilight fell on Coruscant. The lights of the city twinkled like the stars above them, and cars hovered quietly through the skylanes. A hooded figure in a black robe stood, gazing into these sights from a balcony on the senate building. Another figure, dressed the same way, walked quietly onto the balcony beside the first. It said, "Your choice of template for the clone was rather interesting."  
  
The other said, in a deeper voice. "Yes, it was."  
  
"Why not clone the Chosen One?"  
  
"That would arouse too much suspicion. No-one outside the Jedi Council and Obi-Wan Kenobi are supposed to know of Anakin's...speciality. Except his fiancée of course."  
  
The second figure stiffened slightly. "You know of that?"  
  
"Yes, of course. It is my business to know everything about the Chosen One. At least it was. He is of no use to me anymore. His friend is almost as powerful, and fulfils Anakin's planned use."  
  
"I thought you were planning to take Anakin as your apprentice."  
  
"No...he is disillusioned by the Jedi, he will leave shortly. He will not be a threat with incomplete training, and I already have a powerful apprentice. This act of war on his love's homeworld has made certain of him leaving the order. Master Windu's aggression has been useful."  
  
"Yes...but was is necessary to the plan to kill the Naberries?"  
  
"No, that was most unfortunate...I am sorry about that. The synthesised midichlorians make those clones a little too aggressive at times."  
  
"People are starting to suspect. He is not acting like the real Windu."  
  
"That is of no consequence. The people of the Republic are also discontented with the Jedi. With the Republic's own Force using Clone Army, there is no need for the Jedi."  
  
"Then we shall wipe them out?"  
  
"Yes. All of them."  
  
"Such bloodshed is unnecessary. Cut off the head, and the body dies."  
  
"Yes...yes. My apprentice is on his way to meet with the council. With them gone, the rest of the Jedi should pose no threat. And with public opinion against the Jedi, the Knights shall hide their powers in fear of persecution."  
  
**  
  
Three hooded figures in brown robes strode into a large, circular room. They slid back their hoods to reveal Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Micold Adoy. Obi-Wan turned to his padawan. "Anakin, wait outside."  
  
"But, master..."  
  
"No buts, Anakin. Wait outside until we are finished with this meeting. It does not concern you."  
  
"That makes a change..." sneered Micold.  
  
Anakin sighed. "Alright..."  
  
"Why don't you run off and play with your fiancée, Ani?" said Micold, bitterly.  
  
"Anakin, Micold, stop bickering in front of the council!" Obi-Wan snapped.  
  
Anakin groaned and strode out of the room. He leaned against the outer wall, arms folded, as the door slid to a close. He shut his eyes, and tried to concentrate on meditating. He sensed something wrong...a great loss. The death of Padme's parents had probably only just sunk in...  
  
Anakin's eyes snapped open, as he heard the hissing of lightsabers being ignited. The hum of their swinging could be heard, muffled slightly by the door and walls of the Council Chamber. Anakin was worried...had the Council decided to execute Micold anyway? He a heard loud, blood curdling scream. Then another. And another...  
  
**  
  
The door to the chamber slid open. Anakin could take no more, and, ignoring his Master's orders, sprinted into the room. Obi-Wan and Micold glanced up at him, their lightsabers locked together. Anakin glanced around the room, and almost lost his dinner. In each seat lay a member of the Jedi Council. However, they had been...dismembered. One tiny chair lay completely empty. The hum of lightsabers and Micold's metallic breathing filled Anakin's ears. He glanced at his friend, and then at Obi-Wan. "Master...?"  
  
"Help, Padawan! This clone has lost control!"  
  
"He's not a clone, master, he is the real Micold!"  
  
"I don't care, he's trying to kill me!" Obi-Wan screamed, barely batting back several neck high slashes from Micold. "How can you tell anyway?"  
  
"Because the clones have real lungs!"  
  
Obi-Wan crouched under another swing at his neck, and launched himself upwards, flipping over Micold's head and landing in another crouch in front of a curved window set in the wall behind Mace Windu's bloodstained chair. Micold spun around and brought his saber low to deflect a shot to his gut. With the force of his spin behind it, and Obi-Wan having just landed and feeling slightly unbalanced, the rattling shot of the sabers slamming together threw Obi-Wan's handle out of his hand and sent him stumbling back against the window. It cracked.  
  
Anakin gasped as Micold held his lightsaber over Obi-Wan. He glanced at his Master, who cried out. "Padawan, please!" Anakin nodded, and sprinted up behind Micold. He threw his legs forward with as much force as he could, ramming them into the back of Micold's head. The smaller padawan flew forward over Obi-Wan, his saber held low, and careered head-first through the window. He tumbled down through the lanes of hovering vehicles, and vanished from sight. Obi-Wan screamed.  
  
Anakin picked himself up off his master, and glanced down at his bloodstained robes. He looked at Obi-Wan, who had been almost gutted by Micold's saber. Anakin's eyes grew wide with concern. "Oh, master!"  
  
Obi-Wan, grimacing through his pain, slowly slid his body backwards through the window.  
  
"Master! What are you doing?" Anakin cried.  
  
Obi-Wan sighed heavily. "I failed, padawan. I failed the council by allowing Micold to destroy them, I failed the entire Jedi Order and I failed you...I must go. It is my destiny."  
  
"No! Obi-Wan!"  
  
Obi-Wan Kenobi threw his body backwards over the lip of the window, and vanished.  
  
"Noooo!"  
  
**  
  
End of Episode 2: No Chance In Hell.  
  
**  
  
20 Years Pass...  
  
**  
  
Episode 3: My Way...  
  
**  
  
A young man, sandy haired, held up his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the suns. He glanced down at the smouldering, shattered cylinder of metal before him. It looked rather like an escape pod...  
  
"Luke!"  
  
Luke Skywalker jumped and spun around. He breathed a sigh of relief on seeing a young, chocolate haired woman. "Leia! Don't sneak up behind me like that!"  
  
Leia laughed. "Oh stop whining, Luke. What've you found? More scrap metal?"  
  
"Its an escape pod...I'm betting its from that space-fight dad and I saw earlier this morning."  
  
"Luke...you and your space-fights," she said, not believing a word of his.  
  
"You're just jealous because if you didn't spend so long getting ready you'd have saw it too."  
  
Leia rolled her eyes. "Absolutely, Luke, I just *love* seeing people get blown up." She glanced down at the cracked metal shell. The suns glinted off it, hurting her eyes. "Looks like whoever came down in that thing didn't survive."  
  
"Think we should check inside?"  
  
She shook her head. "No way. There could be a body in there or an alien or a bomb or anything!"  
  
"You and your aliens..." Luke said, mockingly.  
  
"Oh shut up, Luke. If you want to look inside then go ahead, but I'm not helping."  
  
"Fine," said Luke, and unhitched a much smaller metal cylinder off his belt. He flicked a switch, and a blue beam shot out of one end of the metal object.  
  
Leia gasped. "That's father's lightsaber!! Where did you get it?"  
  
"I borrowed it," said Luke, simply.  
  
"Luke! You're not allowed to touch his Jedi stuff! He's going to be very angry..."  
  
Luke shrugged and raised the humming blade over what appeared to be the escape pod's exit hatch. He brought it down swiftly, slicing through the side of the hatch, which fell off cleanly, sending a spray of sand into the air as it landed. Luke and Leia waited for the sand to settle again, and both peered inside the dark pod. A red light suddenly appeared. Leia gasped. The light appeared to be hovering in mid air, shaking slightly from side to side. The light beeped. Leia screamed as it began to advance towards them. Soon, the light could be seen as a circle, encased in a silver dome, sitting on top of a squat, blue cylinder with three legs. Leia hated things with more than two legs...  
  
"Cool, a real astro droid!" said Luke.  
  
"Luke!"  
  
"What now?"  
  
"You know how much mother hates that word!"  
  
"Heh. Yeah. Dad keeps saying it just to bug her...anyway, we better get this little droid to him, maybe he can fix it up and we can find out where its from."  
  
"Sure, I guess, but I bet he'll make you clean it for stealing his lightsaber..."  
  
"I didn't steal it," said Luke, as he knelt down beside the droid. Its dome whirred around furiously, as if completely bewildered by its surroundings. Luke reached underneath the dome and brushed some dust off the droid's outer shell to reveal a small metal plate.  
  
"So, what's its number?" Leia asked.  
  
Luke gazed at the plate. It was still a little hard to make out. "His name's...Artoo Deetoo."  
  
**  
  
Anakin was in the dim, low roofed homestead, kneeling on a humming holo-pad before a shimmering, floating figure. "Come back soon, ok?"  
  
"Of course, Ani. Once Sabe's well enough to look after Ben on her own I'll come home."  
  
Anakin sighed. "I don't see why he can't look after himself. He's so lazy..."  
  
"Too much of his father in him. Remember, Obi-Wan used to get the handmaidens to feed him whenever he got the chance."  
  
Anakin laughed at the memories of his slightly eccentric master. He probably learned to defy convention from his own mentor, Qui-Gon. There was a noise as someone shuffled into the building. Anakin glanced at the door, then back at the hologram of his wife. "That's the kids back. I better get this meal out for them, so I'll see you later....Angel."  
  
The hologram giggled. "I'm glad to see after thirty years your pick-up lines haven't improved. Bye, Ani." The ghostly figure flickered and then vanished.  
  
Anakin stood up and turned to his twin children. He was taken aback by the lump of dusty, dented metal they were dragging between them. "What is that thing?" he asked, as Luke launched into a rushed explanation, speaking so quickly Anakin only managed to identify two words from his spiel. He gasped, and cut Luke off. "Did you say Artoo Deetoo?"  
  
Leia nodded. "That's what it says on the name plate. He was mobile when we first found him, th---"  
  
"Then he started smoking and whining. I think this Artoo Unit has a bad motivator," Luke cut in. He smirked a little, sensing Leia scowling at him.  
  
Anakin ignored their bickering, and crouched down beside the droid. He grabbed a cloth off a nearby workbench and wiped some sand off the droid's bashed dome. He smiled as he noticed the droid's blue visual port seemed to be gazing forlornly towards the holo-emitter.  
  
"Dad, who was on the holo when we got in?" Leia asked.  
  
Anakin glanced up, still smiling. "That was your mother."  
  
"She's on her way back, right?" Luke asked.  
  
"Uh...no. Sorry."  
  
"Aunty Sabe's still sick?"  
  
"Luke, she's not our aunt..." Leia muttered.  
  
Anakin sighed, ignoring his children again. "So, Artoo, long time no see. How's the Naboo Army treating you?"  
  
"Bleep."  
  
"Right...looks like you've got something jammed in here real go--"  
  
"Oh my goodness!!" came a hysterical cry from the corner. "Artoo Deetoo, it is you, it is you!!"  
  
The droid bleeped rudely. Anakin laughed. "Yeah, Threepio's still around. Sorry, Artoo," he said, prodding at a thin gap in the droid's shell with a sharp piece of metal. Suddenly Artoo bleeped and his motors whirred to life again, sending him rolling backwards. He trundled over Luke's foot, much to Leia's amusement, and clanged against the wall. A short cone of light flickered from the droid's front and landed on the dusty floor, showing the hologram of a middle-aged woman.  
  
Leia frowned. "Who's she?"  
  
"That's Queen Mothma of Naboo..." Anakin answered, concern entering his voice. "Artoo, give me audio," he commanded.  
  
The hologram began to speak. "General Skywalker, years ago you served our people in the Clone Wars when you left the Jedi Order. We are still very grateful for your help, but unfortunately we need it once again. The Emperor has learned of our sympathy with the Rebellion, and considers our people traitors. I was fleeing to you for an escort to the Rebel Cell on Alderaan, to give them the information contained in this droid: Technical data on the Emperor's new weapon of mass destruction. Unfortunately, Darth Bane's fleet has captured my vessel in orbit of your planet. Please take this droid to Alderaan...Help us, Anakin Skywalker. You're our only hope..."  
  
Anakin stared, wide eyed, as the image flickered again and faded. He looked up into the worried faces of his children. "Luke, get the speeder ready. Leia, help me clean R2."  
  
"Yes, father," Luke said, nodding and striding out of the building.  
  
"Threepio," Anakin called over his shoulder. "Set the alarms and lock down the homestead. We'll leave as soon as the sun comes up for Mos Eisley."  
  
"Oh great...I hate that place. It's so...dirty!" protested Leia.  
  
"I know, but it's the nearest place we have a chance of getting a transport to Alderaan from. I just hope the Empire isn't hanging around the city searching for those plans."  
  
**  
  
The land-speeder hovered quietly on the rocky outcropping overhanging the bustling city. The second sun was rising above the stone, domed buildings. Anakin gazed down into the sandy valley, and turned to his children and droids sitting behind him in the long black speeder. "Mos Eisley spaceport," he informed them. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villiany."  
  
"Except Coruscant, right?" asked Luke.  
  
"Yes, possibly..."  
  
"I always found Mos Espa quite wretched," Threepio piped up.  
  
"True..."  
  
"I thought th---"Leia began  
  
"Alright, alright, I get the message!" Anakin cried. "But you kids haven't been here before, and trust me, its not a pretty place. None of those other places had a mixture of alcohol, poverty, aggressive locals, more aggressive aliens---"  
  
"Sounds pretty bad then," Luke and Leia said together.  
  
"Right. Come on, let's go."  
  
Threepio panicked. "We're actually going to this place?! Oh my g---!" He was cut off as the speeder turned and accelerated down a steep path to the foot of the cliff, spraying dust all around it as it sped towards the city.  
  
**  
  
The black landspeeder slid through the city streets, already flooded with people and droids going about their business, despite the early hour. Luke glanced around, wide-eyed and spotted some female Twi'Leks striding towards a tall, domed townhouse with the word "Jabba" engraved in large letters above the doorway. They were, as his mother would say, adequately dressed for the heat of Tatooine. He grinned, but the grin was wiped of his face as he was almost thrown out of the speeder as it screeched to a halt. He sat up and looked ahead to see what had stopped them. His heart almost stopped as he gazed into the blank eyes of a white helmeted Imperial Stormtrooper.  
  
"Ok, let's see some identification before you enter the spaceport."  
  
Anakin glanced back at his children and gave them a discreet wink before addressing the Stormtrooper. "You don't need to see my identification," he said calmly, waving his hand casually in front of its face.  
  
The 'trooper remained silent, confused, for a moment, then its crackly voice said "Uh...alright, you can go about your business."  
  
Anakin nodded to the Stormtrooper, who stepped out of their path, and drove the speeder to a low roofed, dingy looking building. Anakin and his children stepped out of the black land-speeder. The droids began to follow, but Anakin held out a hand. "Stay here. They don't really like your kind in places like this. Leia, keep an eye on them, ok?"  
  
She sighed. "Fine..."  
  
"Thanks. Come on, Luke," Anakin said, stepping into the dim cantina.  
  
**  
  
Queen Mothma lay on her side on a black, steel bench that was supposed to be her bed. She sighed as she gazed at the locked silver door which was her only way out. She was considering dashing out the next time a meal was brought to her, but it would be a long time before she received any more food, and even if she escaped the detention block, getting off this battlestation would be almost impossible. She hoped the droid she had sent down to that dust ball had found his way to the Skywalkers... As she gazed at the door, it suddenly hissed open. She sat up, but suddenly any plans to escape were thrown from her mind by fear as a massive black shape stepped through the doorway. She couldn't see through the high dark windows of the black helmet, but she was certain the eyes behind it were glaring at her. She swallowed, and tried her best to glare back. "Darth Bane," she said with a hint of disgust. "Only you would be so bold. The senate will not sit still for thi--"  
  
The dark shape took another step forward and loomed over her. Its mechanical breathing drowned out even the Queen's fearful breaths. "Don't act so surprised your highness," Bane's voice rumbled through the grilled face-plate of his mask. He returned the tone of disgust when addressing her, as if he loathed the last two words. "You were on no mercy mission this time. Imperial Intelligence may not live up to its name, but they are not completely incompetent. Several transmissions were beamed to your ship using very antique radio waves that our own systems could not at first identify."  
  
"I..I don't know what you're talking about!" she protested.  
  
"I believe you do, your highness..." he spat the two words. "Those transmissions contained a stolen copy of secret plans to the battlestation you are currently on. If those plans fell into the wrong hands the Emperor would be most displeased."  
  
"Plans? The only transmissions we received were orders by your Star Destroyer to surrender!"  
  
"You are a part of the Rebel Alliance, and a traitor!" Darth Bane thundered. "You shall come with me. Your friend, Governor Tarkin, believes you will be more co-operative once you see the power of this battlestation..." He finished, bitterly, and raised her off the bed by the throat.  
  
**  
  
Tinny music fluttered through the smoke of the dim, low-roofed cantina. Anakin strode through dank chamber with even more confidence than some of the regular patrons. Luke slunk behind him, glancing around occasionally, then turning his eyes back to the floor. The smoke stung his eyes, and smelled a little too sweet to him. It was probably being produced from the burning of something illegal... He stopped as something thick and wriggly draped itself over his shoulder. He jumped, then noticed it was the head-tail of a Twi'Lek. He grinned as he turned to face the Twi'Lek. It grinned back with the sharp fangs of a male.   
  
Oh, shoot, Luke thought. Or something similar..."Uh..can I help you?" he asked.  
  
"Yes..." the Twi'Lek hissed. "Is that girl attached to you?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"The one outside by the speeder."  
  
"Oh...yeah, sort of."  
  
"I see...Married?"  
  
Luke glared at him. "Ew!! No way! She's my sister!"  
  
"I see..." the Twi'Lek repeated. He turned and stepped towards the door, his tail slipping off Luke's shoulder.  
  
"Hey, wait a second, where do you think you're going?" Luke cried as the Twi'Lek climbed the stairs.  
  
"Come along Luke!" his father called. Luke glanced back at the door, then walked over to his father. "This Wookie here is the first mate on a ship that might suit us."  
  
Luke nodded and followed his dad and what seemed to be a walking carpet to a dark booth hidden in a corner of the room. He winced as he heard loud screams from outside. He and the rest of the bar's patrons spun around to see an long, thick, and most noticeably unattached lump of flesh rolling down the steps from outside. Luke whispered to his father, "You left Leia with your 'saber?"  
  
Anakin smirked silently, then sat in the booth opposite a slightly scruffy looking, dark haired man. They nodded to each other. "Hello."  
  
"Chewie here tells me you're looking to go to Naboo?"  
  
"That's right," Anakin replied cautiously.  
  
"Well that's good, I can be there and back before the suns set today. It's not all that far."  
  
"Really? Sounds like you have quite a fast ship."  
  
The scruffy man smirked, and then laughed. "Fast ship? Have you ever heard of the Millennium Falcon?"  
  
"No..." Anakin said. "Should I have?"  
  
"Dad!!" Luke cried. "How can you not have heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!"  
  
The man laughed again. "Well at least someone's heard of me. The only fast person they seem to remember around here is some little kid who was the only human to ever survive a pod race. Heh. He even won the damn thing! It's been over thirty years and that record still hasn't been broken....Gee, I'd like to meet that kid."  
  
Anakin grinned. "You already have, Captain..."  
  
"Solo. Captain Han Solo." Han answered, grinning. He held out his hand, and Anakin shook it. "Wow, this sure is some honour. Tell you what I'll do you a special deal for this trip. Five thousand now, five thousand when we arrive. How's that sound?"  
  
Luke's eyes almost fired out of his head. "Ten thousand?! We could almost buy our own ship for that!"  
  
Anakin placed a restraining hand on his son's arm. "We don't quite have five thousand just now, but we can pay about half of that now, plus ten thousand once we reach Naboo, plus your ship will be refuelled and any repairs you need done when we land. They have some great technicians there."  
  
Han's eyes gleamed. "Twelve and a half thousand, huh? Ok, what's the catch?"  
  
"No catch. You just have to carry myself, the boy, his sister and two droids. And no questions asked."  
  
"I see. There's always a catch...Local trouble?"  
  
"Let's just say," Anakin said, quietly, "That we wish to avoid any Imperial entanglements."  
  
Han nodded. "Alright, you've got a deal."  
  
Anakin nodded back. "I have to go lift the cash from the bank...where shall we find your ship?"  
  
"Docking bay Ninety Four."  
  
"Ninety Four," Anakin repeated as he stood and left the booth, followed by a rather bewildered Luke.  
  
**  
  
Anakin and his children walked into the bright interior of the roofless docking bay. Before them they saw a jumble of metal of colours varying from sparkling silver to rusty red. The jumble appeared to be roughly in the shape of a freighter.  
  
"What a piece of junk!" Luke and Leia cried simultaneously.  
  
"Gee, thanks..." Han muttered from the ramp. "It may not look much but it's got it where it counts, kids..."  
  
The droids shuffled into the chamber as Anakin, in his brown robes, strode up the black ramp. Luke, dressed in slightly brighter robes, followed him into the ship, nodding to the captain as he passed.  
  
"Come on, hurry up, I haven't got all day!" Han said loudly to the droids. He rested his head against the hydraulic pole that held the ramp to the ship as something fluttered past him. He stood up straight, moving slightly too quickly and almost knocking his final human passenger off the ramp. He grasped her hand to stop her falling. "Oop, sorry."  
  
"That's alright, I should have been watching where I was going. Thank you Captain...uh...my father didn't tell me your name."  
  
"It's Han. Just Han," he answered. "And who might you be?"  
  
"Leia," she said, simply.  
  
"I see. You seem a little delicate for Mos Espa...you're not from around here are you?"  
  
Leia looked puzzled for a moment, wondering what he meant by 'delicate'. "No, I'm originally fr--"  
  
"Let me guess, Iego, right?"  
  
Leia smiled slightly. "Not exactly..."  
  
"One of the moons anyway..." Han muttered, almost to himself.  
  
"No, I was born on Naboo."  
  
"Oh, I see," said Han. "Nice place, I'm sure I was there once...Yeah, that was where I got a new dish for the Falcon. So you're going back home?"  
  
"Yes, for a while."  
  
"Alright....Well, the droids finally made it. Wanna get on board and I'll seal up the hatches."  
  
Leia glanced back at the droids. The suns shimmered off the parts of their metal bodies that weren't covered in dust. She turned back to Han and smiled slightly at him again. "I'd be happy to get on board but I can't move while you're still holding my hand."  
  
Han glanced down, then jumped back. "Oh, right. Sorry, I--" he began as Leia strode past him onto the ship. He heard an amused bark from above him as the droids shuffled onboard as well. He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Chewie. And get down here unless you want me to fly off with you still on the hull," he said, turning and following his passengers onto the ship.  
  
**  
  
Mothma stumbled out of the turbolift as a black gloved hand shoved her forward. She stood fully upright, finding herself on what appeared to be a bustling command center. Black helmeted technicians and green uniformed officers scurried around, flicking switches and swapping stations below her platform. Standing at an angular window frame was another green uniformed officer, who appeared to be quite old and gaunt. He was standing at a military ease, gazing at a green and blue planet hanging amongst the stars outside the window. The planet was very familiar to her. "Naboo..." she whispered to herself.  
  
"Ah, you are here, your highness," the officer said pleasantly. The gloved hand gripped her shoulder and forced her to march towards the green-clad man.  
  
"Governor Tarkin," she greeted him angrily. "I hope you have come to your senses and are delivering me safely home."  
  
Tarkin smirked at her, then turned back to the window. "Lord Bane, she still refuses to tell us about where the plans were going or where the Rebellion's primary base is?"  
  
"She is very stubborn," Bane's deep voice echoed from behind her.  
  
"Yes...It goes with the title, does it not? Most Queens of Naboo seem to have a habit of not listening to reason. The last Queen was a little smarter than this one, however. And prettier as I rememb---" Tarkin's speech was cut short as he felt a cold, tight pressure in his throat. He tried to cough, but no air could move in his windpipe. It felt as though it was being crushed from inside his own body.  
  
"Don't mention her again, Tarkin, or you will see the true power of the Force," Bane thundered as he opened his tightly clenched fist.  
  
Tarkin gasped for air. "Of course, my apologies, Lord Bane. Now," he began, finally recovering his breath, "We have decided to show you the full power of this battlestation, your highness, and your home system will be quite an effective place for a demonstration."  
  
Mothma's eyes grew wide. "No, please! Naboo is peaceful, we have no weapo--"  
  
Tarkin raised an eyebrow and cut her off. "Why are you so afraid? No-one knows the power of this station, except those who are onboard it, The Emperor...and, of course, the Rebels who stole those plans. Am I to take it you have admitted to being a part of the Alliance?"  
  
Mothma gazed at her homeplanet silently. She heard Tarkin sigh wearily.  
  
"I grow tired of asking this, where is the Rebel base?"  
  
The Queen gazed sadly through the window, then lowered her head. "I don't know," she whispered. "The last I heard they were on Dantooine, but they have abandoned that base aft--"  
  
"Very well." Tarkin called over his shoulder to the crew beneath their platform, "Carry on with the operation. You may fire when ready."  
  
"What?!" Mothma cried.  
  
"Oh, you're far too trusting. I never actually *said* we wouldn't fire on your planet if you gave us any information."  
  
"No!" she screamed, as the command center began to hum around her. A thick beam of green energy flew forwards outside the window, and struck through the centre of the blue and green planet, which shattered into thousands of fiery pieces.  
  
**  
  
Han stepped through the round opening from the cockpit to the Millennium Falcon's main passenger cabin. "Well, we'll be coming out of hyperspace in the Naboo system soon. By law I've got to tell you all to please 'stay in your seats until the ship reaches the terminal'. Not that it's any skin off my nose if you fly into a bulkhead while we enter the gravity well of the planet. So I'll j--" he was cut off by a mouthful of chocolate brown hair as Leia stumbled backwards into his arms. "We're not out of hyperspace yet...guess today's my lucky day, huh?" he said, then glanced around the room and noticed the other two humans slumped breathless in their seats. "Is everyone alright?"  
  
Anakin looked up at him. "Um...yes."  
  
"Father," Luke said. "I sense a...disturbance in the Force."  
  
Han rolled his eyes. "Don't get me started on that hokey religion.." he muttered as Leia stumbled to her feet.  
  
"Thank you, captain," she said quietly to him. "You're right, Luke...I felt it too. I hope no--"  
  
"It was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced..." whispered Anakin.  
  
They all stood in an awkward silence for a moment, until a two-toned bleeping pierced it. "Looks like we're coming up on Naboo," Han said, walking quickly back to the cockpit. Leia followed.  
  
**  
  
Bane spun away from the window, his black cape swirling around his metal body, and gazed down into the crews' pit of the command center. "Survivors?" he demanded.  
  
One pale officer glanced up and, swallowing hard, answered Darth Bane. "The entire population has been wiped off our scanners."  
  
Bane nodded, and was about to turn away...  
  
"However," the officer continued, fearfully, "One Imperial Shuttle and one Naboo Starfighter were detected leaving the planet prior to the explosion. They...escaped destruction."  
  
Tarkin also turned and glanced sceptically at Bane before looking down into the pit. "Life signs?"  
  
"There was one human on board the shuttle, and another on the fighter, as well as an unidentified life-form."  
  
"Impossible," Tarkin said quickly. "The Naboo only have one-man fighters."  
  
"The life-form was rather small, it may have been a pet of some kind."  
  
"Very well," Bane's metallic voice rumbled. "Tractor them into the main hangar."  
  
"Um...the shuttle has already landed, and the fighter...jumped to hyperspace before we could get a tractor beam on it," the officer answered, wincing as he awaited the inevitable punishment from Lord Bane.  
  
Lord Bane, however, continued to ask questions. "What was the last known trajectory of the fighter?"  
  
"The...erm...fighter was on course to head further along the rim. There are only uninhabited or very primitive systems in that direction, including some barely hospitable ice and swamp planets."  
  
Bane's black helmet nodded. "Very well." He spun around again to face the other side of the crews' pit. "General Veers," he bellowed, "Have your men dressed and in full parade formation in the main hangar so that we may welcome our distinguished guest."  
  
A man nodded and strode underneath the platform, heading out of the room.  
  
**  
  
The piece of junk streaked through an electric blue tunnel as it made its way through hyperspace. Suddenly the swirling shades of blue vanished with a loud whoosh, to be replaced with blackness and twinkling stars...and rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. Several fragments battered off the shields and bombarded the cockpit window, causing the craft to shudder violently. Captain Han Solo cursed, and his Wookie co-pilot growled in disapproval.  
  
"Where's Naboo?" a prim voice demanded from behind his seat. Han heard two more robed figures shuffling into the cockpit to find out what was going on, followed by the clanking of a golden droid, who was also very worried.  
  
"I don't know, we've been pulled out of hyperspace into a meteor shower!" Han cried. His co-pilot barked something. Han stared at him, then glanced out into the asteroid field. "What do you mean we're at the right co-ordinates? There's supposed to be a planet out there Chewie...oh great."  
  
Anakin sighed. "It's been destroyed...by the Empire."  
  
Luke and Leia turned to look at each other. "Mother..." they whispered.  
  
Han swallowed, feeling very uncomfortable. He continued to gaze out of the window as the cockpit fell silent, instinctively dodging between the larger rocks. He noticed a shimmering sphere hanging ahead in space. "Chewie, did we come out a little too early, what's that body ahead? Could that be Naboo?" he asked. When Chewie barked his answer, Han turned to his passengers. "There's a small moon over there that Chewie thinks is inhabited. Maybe they know what happened here." He glanced at Leia's sad face. "I'm sorry..." he said, quietly.  
  
Anakin looked towards the silver ball and shook his head. "That's no moon. It's a space station."  
  
Han spun around and glared through the windows. "What're you talking about it's too big to be a spa---" he began to protest, but was cut off as the ship started to shake again.  
  
"Turn the ship around," Anakin commanded quickly, making an slight gesture with his hand.  
  
"I think you're right," Han agreed. "Chewie lock in the auxiliary power," he said as he began to flick some switches. "Chewie!"  
  
"Why are we still moving towards it?!" Luke cried.  
  
"Great, we're caught in a tractor beam. It's too powerful to break out of. Still, they're not gonna get me without a fight."  
  
Anakin sighed again. "You can't win, they'll simply get angry and destroy you. However, I have learned that when escaping the Empire there are alternatives to fighting..."  
  
Han nodded, and stared back out the window as the freighter was dragged into the cavernous hangar. He saw huge white squares on the floor, and noticed they were platoons of Stormtroopers, standing at attention as though on parade.  
  
"This sure is some welcome," Leia whispered.  
  
"Hey, I didn't know I was *this* important," Han said, smirking.  
  
**  
  
Darth Bane marched towards the looming grey shuttle, his boots clanking as he strode across the metal floor of the hangar. He faced the ramp as it opened like a beast's mouth, hydraulic jaws pushing the base onto the floor with a loud clang. Bane stopped marching past the long, white rows of Stormtroopers, and lowered himself on one knee at the ramp's foot. Governor Tarkin, having just caught up with Darth Bane's long strides, also kneeled. They looked up through the steam spraying from the hydraulics as a short, hooded figure in a black robe walked slowly down the ramp. Bane glanced to the side as a battered looking freighter with a hull like a patchwork quilt slid into the hangar and settled on the floor. He looked back at the figure before them.  
  
The figure looked down through its hood. "Rise," it commanded, curtly. Bane and Tarkin stood upright immediately, and the figure strode past them, its black robes billowing slightly as it moved. "Bane, escort me to the thrown room."  
  
"As you wish," Darth Bane's artificial voice rumbled as he fell into step beside the short, hooded person. They quickly were out of the large hangar, with Darth Bane glancing back suspiciously at the Millennium Falcon occasonally, and strode side by side down a narrow corridor, with officers almost throwing themselves out of their way. They reached a turbo lift, and stepped inside. Bane pressed a short series of buttons with a black gloved hand, and the turbolift smoothly began to rise.  
  
The robed figure stood silently for a while, occasionally tugging at the neck of the robes. Eventually it could take no more of the uncomfortable warmth of them, and slid back her hood to show a fair skinned female, with chocolate hair tied behind her head, thin strands of grey swirling through it. The turbolift slid to a halt, and the door hissed open, allowing Padme to step into the dark throne room.  
  
**  
  
The door to the hangar control room slid open, and four white Stormtroopers shuffled in, their boots clanging on the metal floor. The two controllers glanced up, and flew backwards as bright lasers flew through their chests. A tall, furry creature stepped in behind the Stormtroopers and barked as it locked the door.  
  
One said "Thanks Chewie. We oughtta be safe in here." He removed his helmet to reveal a smirking Corellian.  
  
"Do you have to be so noisy?" another Stormtrooper whined. "You killed all the guys that came on board to scan us then you steal their uniforms, then go blasting everyone on your way here an---"  
  
"Oh shut up, Luke!" said the two others, hauling their own helmets off.  
  
"Ugh," Leia said. "Don't these guys ever shower? It smells like something died in there..."  
  
"Why're you telling me to shut up? You moan more...anyway, I just don't think killing those four guys who came on board to scan us was really necessary," Luke protested. "It just isn't fair..."  
  
Han laughed. "Sure, kid, how about we just ask if we can borrow their uniforms so we can sneak around the place?"  
  
"Well you didn't have to kill them..."  
  
Anakin shook his head. "They'd wake up if we knocked them out. It was the safest way. I just hope Captain Solo doesn't mind having corpses in his cargo hold."  
  
Han shot Anakin a smirk, then glanced down at a beeping blue R2 unit. His golden friend translated for the humans and Wookie. "Artoo Deeto says he has accessed the central computer and that you can shut off the tractor beam at the point displayed on the monitor by cutting the power. Escape should be relatively easy without a tractor beam to hold the Millennium Falcon in place."  
  
"Relatively?" Han asked.  
  
"Well, the odds of successfully escaping an Imperial battle station are t---"  
  
"Never tell me the odds!" Han cried. "Any volunteers to go cut out the tractor beam?"  
  
Anakin spun around and strode to the door, peeling off his armour and tossing it to the side. "I'll go," he said, quickly. "Everyone stay here until I get back. Lock the door, you should be safe."  
  
"Why can't we go with you?" Luke complained.  
  
"Because it's too dangerous. I sense a disturbance in the Force...the last time I felt it was in the presence of...nevermind. Just stay here." He commanded, and strode out of the room.  
  
**  
  
A large, ornately shaped seat stood on a platform in front of a massive round window, slightly illuminating the throne room with twinkling stars and burning asteroids. The chair slowly revolved until a skeletal, black clad creature faced its two visitors, face hidden in its hood.  
  
Padme strode forward and climbed the steps to the platform determinedly. "Uncle!" she bellowed. "How could you?!"  
  
"Sorry? What have I done?" asked Emperor Palpatine, casually.  
  
"You know what you've done!"  
  
"Well, I'm getting quite old, as you can see....my mind wanders...I've probably forgotten, pumpkin."  
  
"You just destroyed an entire planet!!" Padme cried, frustrated.  
  
"Ah, yes..." Palpatine hissed. "Quite an effective demonstration. Hopefully that lesson will prevent further bloodshed." He glanced down at his apprentice, who was more machine than man, and gave a silent nod. Bane nodded back in agreement, also sensing the disturbance, and spun around, striding out of the throne room and into the turbolift. Palpatine looked back at Padme and smiled thinly. "It seems we have unwelcome guests," he said, in a dangerously quiet tone. "I hate in-laws, don't you?"  
  
**  
  
Artoo Deetoo beeped. He had plugged himself into a communications port in the silvery wall. See Threepio looked down at him, and his fixed metal face seemed to frown. "What on earth are you talking about now, you great glob of grease? Who is here?"  
  
Luke glanced up from the seat he had taken behind a blinking control panel. "What's going on?"  
  
"Artoo seems to have become rather excited, and keeps repeating 'she's here'."  
  
Han smirked, sitting behind another control panel with his feet up on it. "Sounds like the little guy's found a girlfriend..."  
  
"I don't believe so, Captain Solo," Threepio said cautiously. He never could understand human behaviour, or why they felt the need to romantically link everything together.  
  
"Alright, then who's here?" asked Han, irritably.  
  
"Queen Mothma, sir." Threepio answered after Artoo bleeped at him.  
  
Luke shot up out of his seat. "The Queen? She's here?"  
  
Leia's head looked up from its resting place on Han's knee. "Who?"  
  
"She's the one in the message, from Naboo. What's she doing here?"  
  
Threepio's glowing eyes glared down at Artoo until the squat, blue droid chirruped an answer. "Oh dear...I'm afraid she's a prisoner, and is scheduled to be...terminated."  
  
Luke kneeled beside Artoo and pointed at a monitor. "Artoo, can you give us a read-out of the place where she's being held on this?"  
  
Leia sighed. "Luke, what are you doing?"  
  
"I'm not doing anything. We're going to help her."  
  
Han snorted. "Yeah, right, let's go take on an entire battlestation to rescue some stuck up, snooty aristocrat!"  
  
Leia slapped his chest lightly. "Hey! Our mother was one of those."  
  
"Oh...sorry. Alright, I guess we have disguises..I'm in. But it'll cost you extra....I'm still getting paid for all this, right?"  
  
Luke and Leia exchanged a look, then rolled their eyes. "Let's go," they said in unison.  
  
**  
  
"Anakin Skywalker?" Tarkin cried. "Surely he must be dead by now!"  
  
Across the black, hexagonal table, Darth Bane stood behind his seat, hissing metallically. He never sat when in these meetings. Until the arrival of their guest, Tarkin had been certain his artificial legs couldn't bend. "Never underestimate the power of the Force. Anakin is not as old or frail as most Jedi Knights were."  
  
"But, surely he was destroyed in the purge," Tarkin protested.  
  
"He hid well," Bane rumbled.  
  
"Very well. I always thought there was something odd about that freighter...I shall have the troops scour the station for him, and no ships shall be allowed to leave. He will not escape."  
  
"Escape is not his plan," Bane said. "I must face him, alone."  
  
"But, surely a Jedi Knight would require more than one lone----" Tarkin began to choke.  
  
"I find you lack of faith disturbing," Bane thundered, and strode out of the room. Tarkin gasped for air, released from the cold, dark grip of the Force, and slumped forward on the table.  
  
**  
  
Two white-armoured figures stepped into the bustling control centre for the detention area, dragging a tall, binded Wookie in between them. A third stormtrooper walked in behind them, and the group halted before a green-uniformed officer. "Where are you taking this...thing?" he barked.  
  
"Prisoner transfer from cell block 1138," a voice said from one of the helmets. The trooper's hand waved slightly in front of the officer.  
  
"Alright, take him up to the cells. Who are you bringing out?"  
  
"Prisoner Mothma," said the stormtrooper at the back of the group, also waving a hand.  
  
"Very well, go ahead."  
  
The trio of armoured troops nodded, and dragged their prisoner up the steps and into the low-ceilinged, narrow cell block.  
  
**  
  
Anakin strode along a sleek, black catwalk, completely ignored by the white-armoured stormtroopers that walked past him. He pulled his robes around himself and stepped out onto a narrow ledge of the tall, thick cylinder that was a massive, humming power cable. He glanced down at the deep pit below, then tightened his grip on the side of the cable as he side-stepped slowly around to the opposite side of it. Set in the cable was a small dial with a glinting blue display above it. Anakin took a deep breath, let go of the side of the cable and slowly turned the dial. The humming noise became a much deeper pitch, then stopped completely. Anakin took another breath, this time a sigh of relief, then stepped back around to the front of the cylinder and hopped silently onto the cat-walk. He smiled to himself as he strode towards the door he had entered the tall and deep chamber from, then froze. Anakin felt as though a knife was sliding through his gut as he heard the sinister metallic hissing of artificial breathing behind him. Anakin turned slowly, and saw the black, shadowy figure standing before him. A chill ran down his spine and a pain ran through his heart as he sensed the familiar presence before him. Anakin regained his composure, and tried to conceal his surprise "We meet again, Obi-Wan," he intoned. "Now the circle is complete. When I was with you I was but a learner, now I am the Master."  
  
**  
  
Han slumped back in his chair behind the blinking lights of the control panel and glared at Luke, Leia and their new comrade. "That was too easy! How dumb are these people? They're supposed to be running the galaxy."  
  
Luke smirked. "The Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded."  
  
Chewbacca growled something from behind Han, who grinned. "Alright, maybe there is something in that Force nonsense after all...So, anyway, we'll just sit tight till the tractor beam's out of commission then we can fly you out of here, your highness."  
  
Queen Mothma smiled at the captain. "Thank you," she said, then nodded towards Artoo Deeto, who was still plugged into the wall. "I hope we can get the data in that Artoo unit to the Rebellion before this station does anymore damage."  
  
Artoo Deetoo whirred and bleeped. Threepio looked up. "Artoo says that power has been cut to the tractor beam. We can leave at any time."  
  
"Good. We'll wait for our father to return, then go back on board the Falcon." Luke stated.  
  
Leia sat in another high-backed chair, silent, and began to stare ahead without really seeing anything. At least, not anything that was in front of her.  
  
**  
  
Darth Bane snorted mechanically, and pointed at Anakin. "You are no master! You never completed your training!" his voice thundered from behind the mask as his red lightsaber snapped on and hissed to its full length. "You were too busy with your precious Queen. Your friend Micold was right, the Chosen One was always treated as though he was special, and better than us, when he was nothing more than a freak like the rest of the Jedi!"  
  
Anakin Skywalker swallowed as he lifted his own lightsaber from his belt and turned it on, its green blade humming threateningly. "You can't win, Darth," he said more calmly than he felt. "If you strike me down now, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."  
  
"A mere Padawan does not have the power to become one with the Force," Bane shouted, swinging hard at Anakin's head. Anakin flicked up his lightsaber to clash against the blow, and then swung back and forth at the Sith Lord's body. Bane stepped back and drew his saber back to block Anakin's shots, flicking it left and right until Anakin finally stopped and spun around to make his next lunge harder to predict. Bane's glowing red blade came up in front of his face just in time to stop the green lightsaber, and the crackling and humming of the lightsabers drilling into his skull.  
  
Anakin stepped back and held his green blade calmly, upright in front of himself. "Sabe has been missing you, Obi-Wan. She named your son after your old alias when we went on undercover missions. Ben."  
  
"Those names no longer have any meaning for me," Bane said deeply.  
  
"That's not true. You miss her too. Let go of your anger, don't give in to the Emperor anymore. He is your weakness," Anakin countered, still panting for breath slightly after exerting so much energy in the duel.  
  
"According to your friend, affection is the only weakness of a Jedi," Bane thundered, striking back in anger, swinging his ligthsaber with all his might at Anakin's torso and putting the power of his hatred into the swing. Anakin smiled as he saw Bane's angry slash, and flicked off his saber, clasping his hands around its handle casually and closing his eyes. The red blade passed through him, but Anakin didn't feel it.  
  
Bane looked down at the pile of robes on the floor, pooled around a small, metal cylinder. He kicked angrily at it, then spun around and stalked away, his deep, metallic breathing echoing through the chamber as a figure in a hooded black robe stealthily slid into it from the other side and kneeled over the last place Anakin Skywalker had ever stood.  
  
**  
  
Leia's eyes and mouth snapped open with a gasp. "Father!" she blurted out.  
  
Luke and Han spun towards her. Suddenly, Luke lowered his head and swallowed in grief. "He's gone..."  
  
Han's eyes shot between Leia and Luke. "What do you mean, gone?"  
  
"Bane...destroyed him," Leia whispered.  
  
"My goodness," Threepio and Mothma cried together.  
  
Han nodded slowly. "I..see. I'm sorry...but I think we better get out of here as quickly as possible." He stepped over to the metal door of the control room, and tapped the keypad built into the silver frame to open it. The door hissed upwards, and Han looked out, straight at a black-clad, thin and pale young man with dusty blonde hair. He almost looked like a younger version of the father of his passengers.  
  
"Hey, what are you people doing in here?" the figure hissed, lowering its hand towards its belt.  
  
Han smirked, flicked his blaster out of the holster, and did what Corellian smugglers always do to survive... He fired *first*. The figure was hit in the chest, and slumped onto the floor at Han's feet. Captain Solo stepped over the body and strode casually across the now deserted hangar towards the piece of junk he called his ship. He glanced over his shoulder at Luke and Leia, who were trying to tastefully move the body out of their path so the less mobile droids could leave the room. Han winced as Chewbacca grunted at them, and kicked the body, sending it sliding across the floor and through the invisible atmospheric shielding of the hangar entrance. "Come on, let's get out of here," he called to them, stepping onto the open ramp. He glanced around the interior of the Millennium Falcon, and smiled. "Let's go home," he said quietly.  
  
As Han walked into the cockpit and began to power up the vessel, the droids rolled or stumbled their way up the ramp, as Chewbacca followed. The Wookie heard a cry of "Wait, Leia!!" and looked around to see one of the two human passengers racing across the hangar in the opposite direction from the ship, chasing his sister.  
  
"I'm not letting them get away with this! They killed our father," Leia called over her shoulder.  
  
Luke sprinted to her side and held her arms. "Don't do this, Leia! I can't let you face them alone, they'll only destroy you too!"  
  
Leia struggled in Luke's grip. "We have to do something..."  
  
Luke nodded, and drew in a deep breath. "I'll face them. Alone. If I don't make it, you can come back and finish the job. But you have to get these droids back to the Rebellion so they can stop this battlestation!"  
  
"But why do I have to be the one to go?" Leia protested.  
  
"You know how the Empire feels about women. They're more likely to consider me useful and not kill me straight away. Please, Leia...go."  
  
Leia nodded, and held her brother close. "May the Force be with you," she whispered, and ran towards the ramp of the Millennium Falcon.  
  
**  
  
Darth Bane strode across the bridge towards the large, angular windows at the front of the chamber, his boots drumming on the metallic catwalk and sending chills down the spines of the bridge crew below it. He halted beside the gaunt looking Tarkin, and held his hands together behind his back. The two gazed silently out of the windows, as a silvery disc-shaped craft soared past and blasted away into hyper-space.Bane's metallic breathing continued at its steady, artificial gait as he broke that silence. "The tracking device is onboard the Millennium Falcon?"  
  
"Yes," Tarkin said tightly. "Are you sure this plan will be effective? I am not questioning your judgement, of course, but if they really are the offspring of Ana---"  
  
"They are young and naive. Tracking them will not be difficult," Bane thundered, and turned away from Tarkin. "I shall be with the Emperor. He has a guest that I must...entertain. See that we are not disturbed unless it is absolutely necessary."  
  
Tarkin nodded. "Of course, Lord Bane."  
  
**  
  
Han swivelled his chair around from the glowing blue swirls outside the cockpit windows, and smiled at his last remaining human passenger. "Are you gonna be alright?"  
  
Leia glanced up from her own seat and saw the Corellian's dashing, almost roguish smile. She returned it, only her smile was a little more sad. "I'll be fine."  
  
"Yeah but...your mother died on Naboo, your dad probably just got killed and now your brother's gone off on some suicide mission... Won't you be... lonely?"  
  
"I'm not lonely..."  
  
Han could help but grin. "Well, that's ni---"  
  
"They're not gone anyway. I can still feel them... all of them."  
  
Han laughed slightly to himself, then turned back to gaze out at the shifting blue shapes of hyperspace. "It won't be long until we reach the Rebel command center on Hoth. I spent a night in that place once... I sure hope you brought something warm to wear."  
  
"Why, is Hoth a cold planet?"  
  
Han chuckled. "That's putting it...mildly."  
  
**  
  
Luke Skywalker stepped quietly along a deserted, narrow corridor on board the massive battlestation, glancing around himself to make certain that no-one was around. He reached the end of the hall, and tapped the keys to open the turbolift. The metal door slid open with a swish, and Luke stared up into the tall, dark shadow standing inside the small compartment, its artificial lungs hissing ominously. Luke balked and spun around, ready to flee, when a black gloved hand gripped his shoulder and hauled him back into the turbolift. The door quietly slid shut.  
  
**  
  
The main hatch built into the underbelly of the patch-work stock light freighter, The Millennium Falcon, popped open and lowered slowly, small jets of steam erupting from the hydraulic systems that moved it. Captain Han Solo slowly walked down and gazed around the icy cavern, filled with heavily-wrapped men and women of all sorts of species swarming around, welding together cracked girders and broken hulls of ships. "Now *this* is a piece of junk," Han muttered, and looked down at the small gathering of Rebel officers. "Hi, I'm Captain Ha---"  
  
"Your highness!" a bearded man cried. "It is a pleasure to see you again."  
  
Han glanced back and saw the other human passenger, whom he'd forgotten about. He hoped he'd get paid for bringing her here too. The woman strode quickly down the ramp and shook hands with the welcoming committee. "Thank you, Garm," Queen Mothma said.  
  
"When we heard about Naboo we feared the worst...we're sorry..."  
  
"We have no time to grieve now, I fear the Empire may be tracking us."  
  
Han glared down at the Queen. "Hey, not my ship, sister! No way could they track this thing!"  
  
"Then what's this?" Leia asked, stepping out of the ship and onto the ramp, holding a circular lump of black metal in her hands. "Looks like a tracking device was planted in your smuggling compartments, Captain Solo. At least the Empire were kind enough to remove those corpses...."  
  
"Uh... I-I can explain..." Han stammered.  
  
Mothma shook her head. "It doesn't matter, at least we know where the Empire's battlestation is heading next. We must get the information from that Artoo unit and try to find some sort of weakness before they arrive."  
  
Garm Bel Iblis nodded to the Queen. "Of course, but unfortunately our ships are having trouble adapting to the cold. We need more time than normal to get them to take off..."  
  
"A ship that size will probably be quiet slow, even in hyperspace. We will be ready before they manage to get in position to fire on us... I hope."  
  
As the rebels discussed their tactics, a squat blue droid, followed by his lanky golden friend, shuffled their way down the ramp to offer their services.  
  
**  
  
"This has gone far enough, uncle!" Padme screamed, her furious voice echoing around the Emperor's dark, sparse throne room. She stomped up the steps towards his seat of power. "Face me when I'm talking to you!"  
  
The high-backed, black chair slowly rotated, until a black shape, buried in a dark hood, glared at the angry, tear-streaked face of Padme. "What is it?"  
  
"You killed Anakin!" she screeched, hoarsely.  
  
"I haven't left my seat all day," Palpatine countered, his voice even.  
  
"You ordered Bane to do it! I saw him."  
  
"He was a threat to us. To order and peace. You still desire peace, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, but not at the expense of innocent lives!"  
  
"He wasn't innocent. You agreed to help me restore peace and order to this galaxy--"  
  
"And you started killing off my family in return!!" Padme cried, and brought her hand swiftly across Palpatine's shrouded face, slapping him.  
  
Palpatine sighed, and raised his hand, as his yellowing eyes glowed in the hood, making him look like a rather tall and evil Jawa. "Don't do that again..." he muttered, as Padme was thrown back down the stairs and landed hard on her back, her spine clanging disturbingly off the metal floor. Palpatine chuckled to himself, and then his head shot up as the turbolift at the far end of the room slid open. A sandy-haired young man stumbled out and was pushed forward towards the throne by the tall, black metal mass of Darth Bane.   
  
The boy looked down at the still figure on the floor. "Mother!" he cried out.  
  
Palpatine laughed harder. "Yes, calling for your mother! How fitting for a Jedi... such cowards." He glanced at the still figure himself, and cursed silently. It was still alive... "You are just in time to see a small demonstration of the power of the darkside, young Skywalker," Palpatine hissed as he regally rose to his feet and began walking down the steps. The body at the foot of the stairs groaned, and pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, which made Palpatine chuckle even more. "Excellent, she shall be conscious to see her own end."  
  
"No!" Luke screamed, and rushed forward, his shoulder breaking out of Bane's artificial grip at last. The boy raced towards the foot of the stairs, and Palpatine smiled thinly as he walked across Padme's back and raised another hand. Luke arced backwards as though he had been shot, and then pulled himself forward and continued to plunge on, shrugging off the effects of the Force Push.  
  
"Impressive," Palpatine and Bane intoned together. The two Sith exchanged a glance, and Bane clenched his fist just as Luke reached down to his belt for his lightsaber. The boy collapsed on his knees, a mere foot away from the Emperor's feet, and began to choke and gasp for breath as the cold, invisible iron claw crushed his throat.  
  
"Now, young Skywalker," Palpatine continued. "You have a choice. You can choose the quick and easy path and join your mother in death, or you can complete her work in restoring order to the galaxy!"  
  
Luke's eyes grew wider. "What?!"  
  
Palpatine chuckled again. "Don't act so surprised It was her vision for a united and peaceful galaxy that created this Empire. It was her who granted me control. You should be proud of your mother..."  
  
"No..." Luke whispered. "She would never help you!"  
  
Palpatine glared down at Luke, and his yellow eyes began to shimmer. "What is your choice?" he demanded, suddenly.  
  
"I won't help you either!" Luke cried. "I am a Jedi, like my father before me!"  
  
"So be it...Jedi," Palpatine said, and raised his hands, their palms open and pointing downwards. He grinned as he prepared to destroy Luke, and suddenly the grin vanished, as he felt a weight attaching itself to his shoulders. "Wha---?"  
  
Padme had managed to get to her feet while Luke and the Emperor argued, and had leapt up onto his shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his cloaked throat, and tried to squeeze the life out of him. Palpatine regained his composure after the initial shock, and gripped Padme's arms, dragging them off his throat and her body over his head until he held her upside down, her head dangling at his knees. Palpatine took the opportunity, and done something he was very unaccustomed to. He kneeled.  
  
Padme's head and body was drilled into the metal floor like a gravestone as Palpatine dropped down, and a great pain shot up through her entire body. She felt as is her spine had been replaced with a sword, and then...the pain vanished. Padme's body, balanced on the ground on her head, flopped forward limply, and she landed on her back, where she rested in peace.  
  
**  
  
A red-clad pilot glanced out of his cockpit at the shrinking blue ball he had just lifted off from. He fidgeted uneasily in the cramped seat as Artoo-Deeto guided the X-Wing to the rendezvous point in the system, where the Rebellion's main star fighter fleet awaited to launch an attack on the Death Star. Suddenly the eerie silence as he glided through space was cracked by the static of radio signals, which then became a voice.  
  
"All wings, report in," a gravely voice commanded.  
  
"Red group, reporting in. Stand by..."  
  
"Green group's ready to go."  
  
"Blue group, all in."  
  
"Where's Red 5?" the red leader asked.  
  
"I'm right here," Leia answered, the static crackling in her helmet as he spoke.  
  
"Alright. Red group, standing by."  
  
"Where's gold group?" the original gravely voice requested, sounding concerned. His question remained unanswered, and the radios fell silent as the pilots searched through their sensors and radar to find some of the mixed craft making up gold group. A loud, high-pitched whine suddenly shrieked past Leia's cockpit, making her jump. She sighed as the large freighter that caused it slowed to match his speed, causing the whine to become slightly lower. Leia sighed, and spoke wearily into her mouthpiece. "Han, don't sneak up on me like that!"  
  
"Sorry, your worship," Han's voice filtered through the crackling radio, "I couldn't get the right frequency. Anyway, this is gold leader, reporting in. The rest of the group are just overhead. We're ready."  
  
Leia glanced upwards through the transparent canopy of the cockpit, and saw a small cluster of irregularly shaped craft, consisting of freighters, transports, personal shuttles and just about any small ship that wasn't a fighter. However, they had all been heavily modified to carry an array of weapons. She smirked at Artoo's comment that rolled across a small viewing screen in the side of her cockpit, stating Artoo's feelings on the state of the ships. "Don't worry, Artoo, I'm sure they won't break down halfway through the fight. Take off the thrusters, we're in position."  
  
The droid beeped obediently and the ship stopped asit slotted into position alongside the other red-marked X-Wings. A horrible, nauseating feeling of loss swept through Leia's body, as the Force told her something terrible had happened. She sighed sadly, and turned back to look out of the cockpit's side windows to the blue planet of Alderaan, noticing some strangely shaped, twinkling objects streaking from the planet towards the fleet. The were a bright yellow in colour, very sleek and organic looking, and had shimmering silver engines and noses. Leia's brow creased in confusion as she tried to think of the identity of the vaguely familiar fighters. Before her mind could answer, she heard another voice calling out sarcastically over the radios.  
  
"Bravo group, nice of you to join the party!" Han said.  
  
"Roger, gold leader," Bravo Squadron's leader replied in a rather tired voice.  
  
**  
  
The Emperor raised himself to his feet and glared down at the broken body before him. His grin returned as Luke bent over his mother, gasping with grief. Palpatine watched the boy's tears fall for a short while, and then placed his knarled hand on Luke's sandy-coloured head. The Emperor's face contorted with a mixture of effort and anger as the dark energy surged through him, causing bright blue bolts of crackling lightning race from his fingertips and through the Luke's own body. The boy screamed in agony, and fell backwards from the Emperor's grip. His head thumped off the black boots of a tall, shadowy figure. Luke slowly raised his gaze upwards to Darth Bane's metal face-plate, and pleaded. "Help me..."  
  
Bane's helmet shook slowly, and the Sith Lord spun on his heel and strode out of the chamber towards the turbolifts, leaving the boy to fry as Palpatine's electric onslaught continued.  
  
**  
  
Tarkin gazed out of the large, angular windows at the front of the bridge, as his crew busied themselves below his metal, grated platform. He stiffened slightly as the deep, rumbling breaths of Darth Bane drew close behind him. "Ah, Lord Bane," Tarkin said pleasantly. "Our fleet is ready to leave hyperspace and begin the assault on the rebel fleet."  
  
"Very good, Moff Tarkin," Bane thundered in return.  
  
"Yes.... The Emperor will be pleased."  
  
"He already is..."  
  
Tarkin shot a shocked glance at Bane. "You have spoken to him?"  
  
"He is already on board."  
  
Tarkin gasped. "The Emperor is here? I...we were told that only a representative had been sent--"  
  
"The Emperor has been personally overseeing this station since construction began," Bane cut in. "Now," he commanded, looking down through the square gaps of the catwalk at the crew, "Bring us out of hyperspace and order the fleet to follow. Bring full power to the shields as soon as you are clear and prepare for the attack."  
  
"Yes, Lord Bane," a young officer stated immediately.  
  
**  
  
Leia's eyes flickered from one glowing white dot to the next as she scanned the area of space in front of the Rebellion's starfighter fleet for incoming enemy craft. The Rebels were certain that the Empire were following the Millennium Falcon from their battlestation to their base on Hoth, which they had decided to evacuate immediately to prevent the Empire from taking out the entire Rebel Alliance with one shot. With the tracking device still on board, the Millenium Falcon had went with the rest of the fleet to Alderaan, where the Rebels prepared to make a last stand along with some help from the sympathetic Alderaanian monarchy. The plans had shown that the massive station was capable of travelling through hyperspace, but was rather slow, leading to the wait they had before it would arrive. Those stolen plans, contained inside the memory banks of the astromech droid plugged into the compartment behind her cockpit, also revealed the station to be aptly named the Death Star, capable of completely obliterating a planet in a single shot from its massive turbolaser. The power of the station seemed an impossibility, but it had already proven itself in destroying Naboo...  
  
"Red 5, your drifting off course," a light voice sliced through her thoughts, immediately lifting the cloud from her mind. Leia flicked her stick a little left, and then held it in a steady position. "Thanks, Bravo leader," she said pleasantly into her helmet. "Artoo, I thought I told you to shut off the thrusters."  
  
The droid beeped emphatically at her, and a small screen showed the translation of his sounds in clear basic.   
  
Leia frowned in confusion. "Why would we start drifting without engines?"  
  
The droid beeped and whirred again, and the little screen told Leia that large disturbances in hyperspace were known to sometimes create waves through realspace, making small ships shift in position.  
  
"Great," muttered Leia. "All craft power up your engines, they're coming!"  
  
As Leia's orders cried out through the radio, a massive silver sphere shot into view ahead of them.  
  
"Look at the size of that thing!" one voice gasped through the static.  
  
"Cut the tattle, Red Two. Red Group, lock S-Foils in attack position!"  
  
"Roger, Rogue Leader," Leia said, flicking a small switch on her control panel. There was a strange whirring sound of motors revolving to either side of her, then a clang as her wings opened to the cross shape that gave the X-Wing its name, and locked.  
  
"All craft attack!" Han's voice called out into Leia's and the other pilots' helmets. She pushed the throttle forward to full power and the fighter lurched slightly, then screeched forward.  
  
**  
  
The black helmet slowly turned to the left and then to the right, as Darth Bane stood before the massive windows on the command centre of the Death Star, gazing out at cluster of tiny floating shapes, which were streaking towards them. His helmet turned fully to the left, and a rumbling voice echoed from, addressing the gaunt looking Grand Moff at his side. "Tarkin, are those fighters any threat?"  
  
Tarkin snorted in an attempt to stifle his laughter caused by the ludicrous suggestion. "Of course not, Lord Bane. Those craft would be completely vaporised by a single shot from any one of our thousands of turrets."  
  
"They are rather agile, they could easily evade those turrets' fire."  
  
Tarkin smirked. "Even if they managed to fire on this station, their tiny lasers could not even begin to penetrate the shielding and armour, and they would be far too weak to do any real damage."  
  
"The Rebellion would not launch a fruitless suicide attack. They must have found some kind of weakness that they can exploit in those stolen plans."  
  
At the mention of the stolen plans, Tarkin couldn't help himself, and spoke up before the survival instinct could kick in. "The stolen plans were not my problem. If the Rebels manage to damage this station the fault lies entirely at your door, Lord Bane..." Tarkin finished hesitantly, waiting for Bane to retaliate. All he heard was the hissing and thundering of Darth Bane's mechanical suit. Tarkin swallowed awkwardly, and then continued to speak. "Perhaps we should have the Star Destroyers launch some figthers to cover us one they arrive?"  
  
"Very well," Bane replied. "We shall destroy them ship to ship. Alert the main hangar to prepare my fighter. My wingmen and I shall enter the dogfight." As he finished, Darth Bane spun around and strode away.  
  
Tarkin watched him leave, and then turned back to watch the battle. Ahead of the Death Star, two large, grey wedges suddenly streaked into existence. Tarkin smiled and glanced down to the crew. "The Star Destroyers have arrived. Alert Captains Thrawn and Piett to scramble their fighters immediately to take out the Rebels."  
  
**  
  
Leia swallowed as she heard the panicked voices crying out inside her helmet.  
  
"Where did those things come from?"  
  
"Blue group, pull up!"  
  
"Aaaaargh!"  
  
"They're spewing out fighters!"  
  
"Bogeys dead ahead!"  
  
"There's too many of them!"  
  
Leia gazed through her canopy to see a swarm of bluish grey spheres attached to square panels pouring from the open underbelly of the two Star Destroyers. The Imperial fighters began spitting out bright green lasers as soon as they left their hangar, and Leia's X-Wing was rocked by a handful of blasts around her. She tried to block the agonised screams and fiery explosions that thundered through her radio in her helmet, and began spinning the craft to try to cut through the streams of green lances.  
  
**  
  
Darth Bane sat in the cramped ball of the cockpit of his personal fighter, glancing to his left and then to his right as his wingmen signalled they were ready to fly. He focused his attention ahead and pushed the throttle forward, sending his ship soaring into the battle. Ahead he noticed a red-marked Rebel X-Wing screeching past him which appeared to be spiralling out of control. The X-Wing suddenly ceased spinning and levelled out, and the pilot threw her nose around and send four searing red blasts at the TIE to Bane's left. The ball erupted into flames and then vanished. Bane felt a rather disturbing feeling in his gut and his mind as he watched the X-Wing roll over again and disappear into a trench etched in the surface of the massive battlestation.   
  
"The Force is strong with this one..." Bane muttered to his wingman as they turned their ships and streaked down into the trench in pursuit.  
  
**  
  
"Red Five where are you going?" a taut voice almost screamed in Leia's ear.  
  
"I'm making an attack run. I managed to get through the fighter screen!" she called back as her ship glided along the metal trench.  
  
"You're going too fast, you'll never pull out in time!"  
  
"I have bogeys right on my six, I can't slow down!"  
  
"Gold group, cover Red Five!" Han's Corellian voice cried over the communications system. "She's making a run on the exhaust port!"  
  
Leia smiled at Han's concern. "Thanks, Gold Leader, but I doubt anyone will make it through in time. There's too many fight---" An explosion crackled through the radios, cutting Leia off.  
  
"Leia!!" Han screamed.  
  
"Red Five, what's your status?" a gravely, commanding voice asked. "Red Five, come in."  
  
"I'm fine." Leia's voice echoed in the pilot's helmets. "Those guys can't shoot straight, they just took out their own tower!" She smiled again as she heard a sigh of relief that she guessed to be Han's. "Artoo, lock onto the secondary exhaust port at the end of this trench. Guide the torpedoes to it once I fire."  
  
**  
  
In Darth Bane's spherical cockpit, the Sith Lord's gaze flicked between a small display screen on the control panel and the slightly dilapidated looking fighter ahead of him. "Leave this one to me," Bane commanded as a yellow cross slid across the bright red screen.  
  
"As you wish," Bane's wingman answered.  
  
Darth Bane's mechanical hands gripped the control stick, a black gloved finger clenched around the red trigger button, as his wingman's ship slid backwards and vanished from sight at the side of the ship. The yellow cross slipped into the center of the screen, and Bane prepared to fire as a high-pitched whine indicated he had a lock on the Rebel craft. As he pulled the trigger, an explosion to his side rocked his ship, sending the green lasers soaring over the X-Wing and out of the trench.   
  
"What?!" Bane cried, as his black helmet shook from side to side as he looked around, searching for whatever had destroyed his wingman. Overhead, a yellow starfighter screeched towards him, spewing bright green spikes towards his ship. Most impacted on the trench wall, but one finally clipped the corner of the side panel of Bane's ship, sending it spinning out of the trench.  
  
**  
  
"Thank you, Bravo Leader!" Leia cried as she saw Bane's round fighter with angular side panels spiralling above her. Artoo beeped suddenly, indicating that Leia was in range to fire at the port.  
  
"You're all clear kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!" Bravo Leader's voice shouted into the radio.  
  
Leia squeezed her trigger, sending two glowing blue balls of energy flying towards the small, hexagonal hole set into the hull at the foot of the trench wall. She hauled the stick back, sending her X-Wing arcing upwards and over the wall at the end of the trench, as the two blue balls crashed together and exploded on the frame of the hole. "Did it go in?!" she cried out.  
  
"Negative," a sad voice came into her helmet. "It didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface..."  
  
Leia leaned back in her seat, and sighed in frustration.  
  
**  
  
"Tell the fighters to fall back and dock with us immediately!" a slightly uncalm, female voice cried out.  
  
A strange, orange skinned and bug-eyed creature glanced around the bridge of his starship, the Mon Calamari and human crew frantically scrambling around, trying to get to communications stations that worked. A pale, brown haired woman stood at his side, gazing sadly out of the front viewports, wincing at the all too frequent balls of flame flashing amongst the scattering of Rebel fighters who were trying desperately to evade the swarm of enemy fighters. She sighed.  
  
The creature, another Mon Calamari in a white command uniform, looked up. "Are you certain about this retreat? We may never get another chance like this..."  
  
"We definitely won't get another chance if we stay here and die, Admiral..."  
  
**  
  
A slightly gaunt, dark haired man strode across the hectic bridge of a Star Destroyer, leaving his station and stopping beside the command chair in the center of the room. He lowered his head to the level of his superior officer's blue ear. "Captain Thrawn, sir, the few remaining Rebel fighters are have broken off their attack and are making their way back to their mother ship."  
  
Thrawn nodded. "Very well. Hold position here."  
  
The officer frowned in confusion. "We're not going to finish them off?"  
  
"No, the Emperor's battle station will see to them."  
  
**  
  
Luke lay on the hard, scorched metal floor, wheezing and shaking, his throat hoarse from screaming in agony. He could no longer hear the crackling of blue energy, and finally managed to summon enough strength to raise his head an inch or two, and saw the Emperor sliding back into his throne, and pressing a small button on one of the arms with a white, bony finger.  
  
"Fire at will, commander," The Emperor sneered, as his chair slowly began to revolve towards the huge, star-filled window behind him. Sliding slowly through space outside the window, Luke could make out a light, curved and organic looking vessel, the Rebel's mothership.  
  
**  
  
"Leia."  
  
Leia's eyes snapped open, and she jerked upright, her helmet clanking against the transparent canopy of her fighter. She cursed under her breath as the scorched X-Wing soared through space towards the Mon Calamari capital starship.  
  
"Leia..."  
  
She glanced down at Artoo's blue translation screen and the red comm panel. Both were empty, no-one was contacting her.   
  
"You must go to the Dagobah system..."  
  
Leia gasped as the familiar voice seemed to flood through her head, and a sequence of numbers suddenly scrolled across Artoo's screen. "Father?" she mouthed silently.  
  
"There you will learn from Yoda, the last Jedi Master."  
  
Leia swallowed, then nodded to herself, and steered the fighter away from the mothership. "Artoo, power up the hyperdrive," she commanded.  
  
The droid beeped cautiously.  
  
"I don't care if they've not been tested in one-man fighters yet, just do it."  
  
"Leia, what's going on?" Han's panicked voice called out over the radio system.  
  
"Red Five, you're drifting off course!" another voice called.   
  
Leia sighed, and ignored them as the high-pitched whine of the hyperdrive filled her ears and her craft shot forward into the swirling, silent blue tunnel of hyperspace.  
  
**  
  
"Admiral, the battlestation is powering up its primary weapon!"  
  
The Mon Calamari whirled around to face the smaller, human officer at his station. "Prepare to make the jump to hyperspace!"  
  
"But sir!!" a golden protocol droid cried out from behind the officer. "There isn't enough time to calculate the co-oridinates before the station fires!"  
  
"We have no choice!" the Admiral barked back. "We'll have to jump blind. Alert the fighters that haven't docked to follow."  
  
"Aye sir," replied the officer and droid together.  
  
**  
  
Tarkin stood on the platform above the bridge, gazing out at the destruction in front of the Death Star as swarms of Imperial fighters blasted ceaselessly at the fleeing Rebels. To his right, a huge, dark chamber had suddenly been filled with bright green light, as the massive energy weapons lanced through the Death Star and came to a focus in the center of its huge, crater-like dish. Through the windows he could see a faint green glow coming from the front of the station, and suddenly a thick column of green laser raced out towards the squat, rounded Rebel cruiser in the distance. And, just as suddenly, the light and the cruiser were both gone. He glanced down at the crew milling about below him. "Report," he commanded.  
  
"The shot missed, sir."  
  
Tarkin glared down. "What do you mean, 'the shot missed'?"  
  
"The Rebel craft all jumped to hyperspace before the laser could reach them."  
  
Tarkin began to smile. "They can't possibly have had time to calculate a jump with such a large station in the vicinity. Chances are the Rebellion is dead."  
  
**  
  
Luke stumbled gingerly to his feet, and began to make his way towards the turbolifts at the front of the dark chamber, away from the high pedestal of the Emperor's throne, which sat facing the vast starfield outside.   
  
The Emperor himself sat, glaring out at the darkness, seething with anger from within his black robes. He could sense Luke's movement, but ignored it as a familiar presence appeared in the turbolift.  
  
The doors of the lift slid open before Luke, and a huge shadow emerged from them, drowning out Luke's gasp with its own mechanical breathing.  
  
The Emperor's anger dissolved slightly, and his throne rotated silently, as if no machinery where controlling it. He smirked as he looked down at the young, sandy-haired boy falling to the floor and crawling back in fear of Darth Bane. "The Rebellion has escaped," Palpatine spat at his apprentice. "But they have been weakened, and they won't dare launch another offensive for some time. By then it will be too late...we shall have wiped them out. All of them..."  
  
"And the Jedi?" Bane asked, his helmet lowering briefly as he glanced at Luke.  
  
"Kill him immediately."  
  
"He is strong in the Force, much like his father...if he would join us, he would be a powerful ally."  
  
"I need no allies. I control the galaxy. The Dark Side is my ally."  
  
"I'll never join you!!" Luke cried, defiantly.  
  
"Don't allow yourself to be destroyed as your father did," Bane replied.  
  
"You murdered him!! You were supposed to be his friend!"  
  
"I was never good enough to be his friend," Bane said, coldly.  
  
"That's not true! He was always there for you, always trying to help. I overheard him and my mother talking about you...about how strong you were...about how much they missed you..."  
  
"No," Bane snorted. "They never knew me...Anakin never told you what happened to his master..."  
  
"He told me enough...He told me *you* killed him."  
  
"No....*I* was his master."  
  
"No....that's impossible!!" Luke screamed.  
  
The Emperor, watching the events from his throne, could no longer contain his amusement at the Jedi's suffering, and began to cackle. His laughter was suddenly silenced, however, as the slight rush of air from a Force power fluttered through the room, and a metal cylinder shot from Darth Bane's belt and into the hands of a young Jedi. Luke jumped to his feet as he flicked a button, the green blade of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber snapping to life and humming eerily. Bane took his own hilt from his belt and turned it on, just in time for his red blade to block a shot from Luke.  
  
**  
  
Artoo's frantic whistling snapped Leia out of a fitful, nightmarish sleep, as her X-Wing fighter shuddered as it dropped through swirling grey clouds.  
  
"Where are we?!"  
  
The droid bleeped again, and his translation scrolled across a screen, informing Leia that they were in the atmosphere of a planet in the Dagobah system.  
  
"Alright, that's where we need to be. Start the landing cycle, Artoo. Hurry! The scopes have gone dead, I can't see how far it is to the gr---"  
  
The craft thudded into something, creating a huge splashing noise, drowning out Artoo's shrill whining. Eventually Leia opened her eyes, and pushed up the cracked canopy. Outside there was nothing but fog, swamp and the disturbing croaking of wildlife. "Well...so much for the landing cycle. Artoo, can you scan for dangerous fish in there?"  
  
The droid beeped negatively.  
  
"Well I guess the scanners are damaged...just like everything else...Oh well, I better go find some settlements or something...I must've been sent here for a reason," she finished, sliding into the muddy water. "Ugh.."  
  
**  
  
Darth Bane, his mechanical breathing heavy, batted away furious slashes from Luke's lightsaber. The Emperor grinned within his hood, watching the pair striking at each other ceaselessly. Eventually, however, he tired of it, as the Jedi did not seem likely to give in to defeat. Palpatine's contorted face creased further in concentration, and Luke's lightsaber suddenly shot from his hand and skittered across the metal floor.  
  
Luke stumbled backwards and landed hard on the base of his spine, as Bane advanced on him, his red lightsaber held low.  
  
"You are beaten," Bane rumbled. "It is pointless to resist."  
  
"No, it isn't," Luke breathed. "I can feel the good in you...the conflict..."  
  
"There is no conflict. You still do not understand the full power of the dark side..."  
  
"If you were fully consumed you would have destroyed me long ago. A part of you is holding you back...it wishes to bring back Obi-Wan Kenobi."  
  
"You are a fool, Skywalker," Bane said, slightly hesitantly.  
  
Luke sensed the conflict and confusion within Bane as he fought to suppress the light side, and used the distraction to his advantage. He suddenly kicked up at Bane's chest, sending the huge black shadow tumbling backwards. Luke hopped to his feet and sprinted into the turbolift. A bolt of blue lightning crackled against the door as it slid to a close.  
  
"Damn," Palpatine muttered.  
  
**  
  
Leia set herself down on a moss-covered log, and tipped a black boot upside down. A murky liquid cascaded out of it, sloshing loudly onto the ground.  
  
"Ugh," she muttered, and gazed around herself. The swamp was overgrown, filled with green and brown planets and teeming with the sounds of creatures. Through the Force it seemed even more crowded, as living senses seemed to flood her mind and surround her. She couldn't pick out any single being, not even a Jedi Master, where-ever this Yoda was.  
  
"Hello," a raspy voice said from her feet, causing Leia to jump.  
  
"Hey, don't sneak up like that!" she cried, glaring down at a little green creature with long, pointed ears.  
  
"Sorry, I am," the creature said, and began to tug at her orange overalls as if he was trying to climb up them.  
  
Leia smiled, and scooped him up. "That's ok, don't worry," she said as she set him down on the log.  
  
The creature grinned back, its wrinkled face being creased even more so. "I am wondering...why are you here?"  
  
"Well, I'm looking for someone."  
  
"Looking?" the creature laughed. "Found someone you have I would say, hmm?"  
  
Leia rolled her eyes. "I guess so, but I'm looking for someone in particular. A Jedi Ma--"  
  
"Oh, there you are!" a young, male voice cried out from behind her. Leia jumped again.  
  
"Do that not!" The green thing admonished the boy immediately.  
  
"Uh, sorry," he muttered, scrambling through a thick tangle of vines to get to the log. "I didn't know we had company. Mother was worried." He glanced at Leia, and she could have sworn his unshaved face winked at her.  
  
"Friend this is," the creature continued. "A Jedi, she looks for."  
  
"Oh, like my father was?"  
  
Leia glanced between the boy and the other creature. "Your father was a Jedi?" she asked.  
  
"Yep. One of the greatest Jedi Masters ever. He taught my uncle Anakin everything he knows."  
  
Leia glanced down sadly, the looked up again in confusion. "Uncle Anakin?"  
  
"Well," the boy continued, "He's not really my uncle, but his wife and my mother were best friends and they look so alike that people often think they're sisters, or even the same person, so I call her my aunt, making him my uncle."  
  
Leia peered through the dim mist rising from the swamp and took another good look at the boy's features. "Ben?" she whispered, mostly to herself.  
  
"Yep, that's me...do I know you?"  
  
"Sort of...Anakin Skywalker was my father..."  
  
"Oh, I se---wait, what do you mean 'was'?"  
  
Leia smiled sadly. "Can you take me to your mother? I have a lot to explain to her."  
  
"Uh...sure. C'mon, Yoda."  
  
Leia's eyes dropped to the little green creature beside her. "Master Yoda?!"  
  
Yoda looked back at her, and nodded slowly before hopping off the log and hobbling after Ben.**  
A battered looking stock light freighter set down jerkily on the metal floor of a hangar filled with scattered, charred fighter parts and a small collection of X-Wings and Y-Wings that were still in one piece, more or less. The freighter's small satellite dish barely scraped its way under the tangle of overhead gantries, where beings scurried around, trying to use cranes and pulleys to move the remains of some fighters around. Han winced as he looked out through the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, seeing the remains of a red-marked X-Wing being lowered onto the floor. A crackling voice from the comm system cut through his sad thoughts.  
  
"Captain Solo, report."  
  
Han leaned down to the microphone embedded in the communications panel. "We scouted around the perimeter of the system...No signs of any more stragglers. I guess that's everyone who made it back now..."  
  
"No sign of Imperial activity?"  
  
"No, but I intercepted a report from a news buoy that claims the Emperor's battlestation is returning 'triumphantly' to the capital world, and that he's decided to take up permanent residence there. It's his new mobile palace," he finished, sarcastically.  
  
"Indeed..."  
  
"Did anymore of the fighters arrive while I was gone?"  
  
"No, Captain. I'm sorry...Only a third of those who were launched have returned. Most were reported missing before the jump...although a few may have set off on different trajectories and still be making their way here to the rendezvous."  
  
Han sighed, sadly. "I see..." He smiled slightly as a thick, furry arm wrapped itself around his shoulders. "Thanks Chewie," he said as he flicked off the comm.  
  
A golden droid shuffled into the cockpit, and barked a gruff greeting to Chewbacca before turning to Han. "Captain Solo, I can assure you that Mistress Leia will be quite alright. She is almost a Jedi, after all."  
  
Han smirked. "Yeah, I guess so...May the Force be with her."  
  
**  
  
Leia stooped to enter the low doorway of the strange, organic hut built into the bottom of a massive tree. She was led by Ben, the slightly scruffy looking boy who seemed only a little older than her, and Yoda, the petite Jedi Master. Inside the hut, stirring a thick liquid in a wooden bowl, was another figure. A woman, with chocolate brown hair and deep brown eyes. She looked strikingly similar to Leia's mother.  
  
"Aunt Sabe!" Leia cried, and rushed into the arms of the woman. "What are you doing here?!"  
  
Sabe smiled at Leia as she broke off from the warm hug. "Yoda started getting real jittery. He said something bad was going to happen to Naboo, so he brought me here in a starfighter that he..uh...borrowed. Then he sent a message out to Ben to come and meet us here once he was out of the hospital on Corellia."  
  
Leia looked puzzled. "But I thought it was you who was sick and mother was looking after Ben..."  
  
"Well I was very ill...Padme came to see me because she was so worried, but your parents didn't want you worrying so they came up with that story....And Ben did have a slight virus while I was ill, preventing him coming to see me, so I guess what they said was true...from a certain point of view."  
  
Leia laughed. "You sound like my father when you say that..."  
  
"Yes, I suppose...I'm sorry, Leia...Yoda told me what happened to him..." Sabe trailed off, and bent down to lift an impatient looking Yoda onto a stool so he could address them more easily. "What is it, Yoda?  
  
"Hurry, we must! Training to complete we have!" Yoda wheezed.  
  
Sabe glared at him. "Oh come on, Yoda, Leia just got here! Can't you at least let her get a good meal first?"  
  
"Hmmm...very well," Yoda huffed, hopping off the stool and hobbling out the door. Waiting outside, surrounded by a shimmering blue glow, was Anakin Skywalker.  
  
"Hello again, Master. She has arrived?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
Anakin smiled at the hunched, green creature. "Try not to train her too hard. We don't want her exhausted or injured. That girl is our last hope..." he finished, with less humour than he had begun.  
  
Yoda gazed up into Anakin's blue eyes. "No...there is another."  
  
"How? Even if Luke survives he won't be able to stand up against the Emperor!"  
  
"No, Luke it is not."  
  
Anakin frowned, puzzled. "Then...who? Not Ben, surely? He did not inherit much from his father..."  
  
"No, not Ben....There is another. No more will I say on it now, not until necessary it is."  
  
Anakin nodded. "Micold," he muttered, and faded away as Yoda turned and shuffled back towards his hut.  
  
**  
  
Three grey, wedge shaped craft hung in the blackness of space, looming over a glittering ball that was the city planet of Coruscant. A shadow slowly slithered over them, and they faded into the blackness. Above them, making its slow orbit of the planet, was the massive, spherical Imperial battlestation. At the very peak of the moon-like structure, sitting perched in his throne above his capital world, was Emperor Palpatine. He was not amused.  
  
**  
  
"Bane," Palpatine thundered at the black figure striding towards him. "We have scoured this station for six weeks. Why have you not located Luke Skywalker yet?"  
  
Bane kneeled silently before the high-backed chair, unable to answer.  
  
"You are certain he has not escaped the Death Star?"  
  
"Yes, my master. No ships have left the hangars since he was left this room."  
  
"He must be tricking the crew...pretending to be one of them...Interrogate and eliminate every new worker, passenger, trooper and crew member that has been brought on board in the past six weeks," Palpatine commanded, coldly.  
  
"As you wish," Bane said, and began to rise. As he stood, a little chirrup was heard from the arm of Palpatine's chair.  
  
The Emperor leaned over and pushed a button with a thin, gnarled finger. "What is it, Tarkin?" he asked, irritably.  
  
"We have located the Rebel you were searching for, your highness. He is putting up a lot of resistance, but I am confident we can capture him eventually."  
  
The Emperor smiled thinly. "Excellent. Bring Skywalker to me..."  
  
**  
  
Artoo whirred and bleeped in panic as the ground began to fall away from him. He swivelled his mud-streaked, domed head, and saw several small rocks and boulders were also no longer on the ground, and were bobbing very gently at his viewing level. Also at his viewing level, directly behind the front of his now slightly rusted body, was a wrinkled, long eared, green skinned creature. Yoda was perched, apparently with perfect balance, on Leia's foot.  
  
"Concentrate..." Yoda whispered.  
  
"I am concentrating!" Leia bit back. "You're the one who keeps talking."  
  
"Concentrating you are not! On the state of your hair, your thoughts are!"  
  
"Well your hair wouldn't be too happy either if you were standing on your head in a swamp!"  
  
"Vanity...the dark side it leads to."  
  
"Is there anything that doesn't?"  
  
"mmm...No," Yoda chuckled.  
  
"Yippie..." Leia muttered, and then gasped. "I...Luke's alive."  
  
"It is the future you see," Yoda said, quietly.  
  
"He's in pain. A lot of pain...now he's dead. And so are we."  
  
Yoda's ears pricked up. "Hmm? What mean you?"  
  
"I mean my brother's going to try to ask me for help and The Emperor will be able to sense where he's sending his message..."  
  
"Ah...track us he will. Bring the battlestation, destroy u---ow." Yoda cursed under his breath as he picked himself up, and thumped the frantically beeping droid that lay at his side with his stick. He sighed, and turned to Leia, who was now lying sprawled on her back. "So well were you doing! Almost complete your training is!"  
  
"I have to go..." she said, sitting up.  
  
"No, stay! Complete your training you must!"  
  
"I have to help Luke!" Leia insisted.  
  
"But---"  
  
"If I can get to him before he's killed then together we have a better chance against the Emperor than I do on my own."  
  
"No...stay here until the Emperor arrives. Come here in his battlestation he will...revenge he seeks."  
  
Leia smiled. "Revenge can be a powerful ally, right?"  
  
"No, revenge leads to the darkside!"  
  
"I don't think you understand what I meant..."  
  
"Ah...vengance the Emperor seeks. Keep Luke alive he will, so your destruction he can witness."  
  
"Right, but I know he's coming, so I can be ready...if only I could get my ship out of the swamp."  
  
"Get it you could...The Force is your ally!" Yoda croaked.  
  
Leia shook her head. "No, it's useless. It's too heavily damaged...wait a second..." She rose to her feet, and brushed some of moss from a thick tangle of reeds and vines. She say a slight gleam from between some of the tangled clump, and pried apart some vines to reveal a gleaming streak of yellow painted metal. "What's this?" she asked, picking more swampy lumps off it.  
  
"Your mother's starfighter it was. Escape Naboo with it Sabe and I did."  
  
"I see...does it still work?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
Leia nodded. "Good. I can take this when the Death Star arrives...but what about you? And Aunt Sabe and Ben?" Leia asked, suddenly worried.  
  
"Need it I do not..." Yoda wheezed. "A small shuttle Ben has. Take Sabe away he will."  
  
"Alright..." Leia said, and kneeled beside the hunched Jedi Master. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes," Yoda coughed.  
  
Leia glared at him sceptically.  
  
"What?" cried Yoda, innocently, and then coughed again. "Move we must, training to complete. Much time left, there is not."  
  
"For me or for you?" Leia whispered.  
  
**  
  
Admiral Ackbar, the large, fish-like creature, sat on the bridge of the Rebel mothership, gazing out at the green ball that the fleet had managed to jump to. Suddenly, a shorter creature of the same species looked up from her station and called across the busy chamber to him.  
  
"Admiral, we're reading a power source from down on the planet."  
  
The Admiral frowned. "I thought the Dagobah system was supposed to be uninhabited. How could any civilisations or colonies be built on that swamp?"  
  
"Sir, it just appeared on our scopes... it matches the signature of the fighters from Bravo squadron. One of them may have crashed on the planet when we arrived."  
  
"Hmm... Can you tell if it is still operational?"  
  
"No, sir..."  
  
An alarm began to whine, and another officer, this time a human, began to cut into the conversation.  
  
"Admiral, sensors show th---"  
  
Ackbar raised a hand to silence the officer, as he could already see out the viewports the reason for the alarm. Slowly creeping around from the other side of the planet, like an unholy sunrise, was a huge, metallic sphere.  
  
"Scramble all fighters. Do whatever it takes to destroy that thing..." the Admiral said, almost fearfully.  
  
**  
  
Leia tried to make herself comfortable in the narrow cockpit of the bright yellow craft, and flicked a few switches. A high-pitched whine indicated the engines were working, and the craft began to bob upwards slowly. She glanced down at the group watching her leave, and smiled sadly.  
  
"I'll be back to finish my training, I promise, Master Yoda."  
  
Yoda shook his wrinkled head. "No, no more training do you need.... Confront Bane you must, and defeat him. Then, a Jedi you will be."  
  
Leia nodded, waved to Ben and Sabe, and slid the canopy shut over her head. Suddenly, she remembered something, and threw it open again.  
  
"You make sure to get off this planet as soon as possible, right?"  
  
Sabe nodded and squeezed Ben's shoulder. "Of course," she answered.  
  
"Good," finished Leia, and closed the canopy again.  
  
As the fighter streaked upwards into the sky, Yoda leaned back against a moss covered log. "Accomplished, our task is," he whispered, hoarsely. He then closed his eyes, and vanished.  
  
Meanwhile, in her cramped cockpit, Leia was certain she could hear an echoing, distant voice whispering to her.  
  
"Remember, the Force will be with you, always," it seemed to say.  
  
**  
  
Han and Chewbacca shared an exasperated glance, and turned back to the comm unit built into the control panel of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit.  
  
"Let me get this straight," said Han. "Admiral Ackbar expects us to take a blaster, point it at our heads, and pull the trigger without the safety or the stun setting on?"  
  
"No, no, no," came the crackly reply. "He wants you and all the other craft to scramble immediately and launch another assault on the Death Star, following the same plan we used last time."  
  
"It's the same thing!" Han cried. "We'll get vaped if we take that thing on again. Look at how many we lost last time!"  
  
"At least we've got a chance, however slim, to take it out. If you stay here you're guaranteed to be blown away by the superlaser!"  
  
Chewie barked quietly at Han.  
  
"Alright, alright," he answered, then flicked off the communications unit. "Chewie, power up the main guns... Here we go again."  
  
**  
  
A sleek, bright yellow craft set itself down on the black metal floor of the one of the many hangar bays set into the huge sides of the Death Star battlestation. The pilot flung the cockpit open, tapped her faithful Artoo unit who she had rescued from the now abandoned and quite probably sunk X-Wing on its slightly rusted dome, and hopped to the floor without even bothering to turn the engines off. A thin, pale skinned Imperial pilot watched her race across the hangar towards the large airlocks that led to the rest of the station, and was surprised to see her not slip once on the newly polished surface of the floor. He shrugged, then turned to an identical looking pilot.  
  
"Think that was some kind of Jedi there? Pretty good balance for a human... Real fast, too."  
  
The second pilot nodded, and unhooked a blaster from its holster.  
  
"I wouldn't wanna try flying against a Jedi in one of them unshielded eyeballs..."  
  
The second pilot nodded again, then raised the blaster at the first pilot's chest. "No, I bet you wouldn't," he said, and squeezed the trigger.   
  
Before the smoking body had crumpled to the floor, the pilot was racing towards the cockpit and scrambling up the wings of the fighter to get inside. Once strapped in, he pulled over the canopy and began to manoeuvre the fighter around and back out the gaping opening of the hangar. He smiled to himself as he heard a familiar beeping coming from behind. "Hi, Artoo," said the pilot, and glanced down at the message scrolling across the translation screen.  
  
"Hi, Mic," it said.  
  
**  
  
Hunched over the decaying, hideously disfigured body of his mother, Luke Skywalker glared up the stairs at the silent, immobile figure in the throne. At the side of the high-backed chair, slicing through the silence with his mechanical breathing, Darth Bane gazed back down at the boy.  
  
"The other is here," Palpatine said suddenly, and, as if to confirm his word, the turbolift hissed open, and a young human female with chocolate brown hair slipped quietly into the room, then gasped at seeing her brother's frail state.  
  
"Luke!" she cried, and knelt beside him. "Are you alright?" she asked, trying to avoid the desturbing...thing that was lying on the floor beside her. The thing with equally brown hair... Suddenly a realisation struck Leia. "Mother..."  
  
Luke nodded, slowly, and turned to face his sister. His eyes were sunken in deep, purple sockets, and the rest of his skin was disturbingly pale. He also smelled strangely, as if he was burning.  
  
"Excellent," Palpatine said, and rose from his throne.  
  
Leia looked up at him, then at the shadow-like figure to his side. The black figure did not move.  
  
Palpatine, however, continued to stride forward. "I now have the last in the line of the Jedi at my hands..." he said, and raised his hands before himself, stretching his fingers out.  
  
Luke winced, and seemed to become very tense. This didn't help Leia's already frought nerves.  
  
"Now, the Jedi shall become extinct, and The Sith will have their final revenge!" the Emperor spat, his face contorting with anger. Suddenly, blue bolts of electricity shot out from his fingertips, and seared their way through the air towards Luke and Leia, wrapping themselves around their violently shaking bodies.  
  
Leia screeched in pain, but Luke remained quite silent, having destroyed his voice box already from screaming so much.  
  
The crackling energy vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, and the Emperor grinned at the two smoking, twitching bodies.  
  
Leia slowly raised her gaze upwards to Darth Bane's metal face-plate, and pleaded. "Master, please..."  
  
Deep in the black helmet of Darth Bane, Obi-Wan Kenobi blinked, and glanced sadly down at the Skywalkers, remembering when he had pleaded with their father to spare his life and save him over two decades ago, when the Jedi Council had been all but destroyed. He began to slowly stride away from the throne, forcing his metal body to obey his will, and reached out to the cloaked figure in front of him.  
  
The Emperor raised his hands again, and blue energy sparked from them. However, instead of hitting the cowering young Skywalkers before him, they screeched over their heads. The Emperor noticed he was rising above the ground quickly, due to the metal hands clamped around his cloak. He roared as the energy crackled around him and the black figure who carried him, and screamed as he was dropped over the side of the railings beside his throne, into the chasm leading to the very bottom of the Death Star.  
  
The black, metal figure dropped to his knees at the railings, and the blue energy that had coursed through him finally wrapped around his helmet then vanished. Kenobi slumped back against the side of the throne, as a young woman limped up the steps and crouched beside him.  
  
"Thank you..." Leia whispered.  
  
**  
  
Burning green and red lasers flashed through space, speeding between the massive grey wall of the battlestation and its fighters, and the scattering of Rebel craft. Through the chaos of warfare, a very heavily modified ship spiralled, heading for a long trench that wrapped itself around the Death Star. The ship was covered in scars and scorchmarks from battle, and a large, circular communications dish was now a burning shell on its hull.  
  
Inside the cockpit, things were just as chaotic.  
  
"Dammit, Chewie, we've lost all out going communication, and sensors. I guess we're going to have to fly through there blind."  
  
From the well leading down to the guns, a bark echoed.  
  
"Yeah, well, I shoot better when I'm blind anyway," Han said, tersely, and dropped the Falcon into the trench. "I'm going to launch the torps in a sec...wait, who's that?"  
  
Chewbacca, unable to see in front of the ship, growled at Han.  
  
"Yeah, well, there's one of Bravo flight just ahead of us. How did one of them make it through here so fast? Those things barely have shields, they're so old! Unless..."  
  
Chewie roared warningly at Han  
  
"Ok, ok, it's probably not Leia...but it must've been some kind of Jedi to get through that fighter screen, right?"  
  
Han ignored Chewbacca's comments as he watch the yellow ship race through the artificial trench, and saw two glowing blue orbs drop from it's front directly into the round port buried in the floor of the canyon. He was so mesmerised by the display of flying skill that he almost forgot to pull out of the trench.  
  
"They went in!" he cried to Chewie, then remembered something else. "We've got to get out of here! That pilot better warn everyone else to get the hell out of the way, this thing's gonna blow!"  
  
**  
  
The entire chamber shook, and a disturbing, rumbling sound could be heard over Obi-Wan's very laboured breathing. Leia glanced out of the huge windows behind the throne, and could see a battle raging. She turned back to the figure slumped beside her.  
  
"We've got to get out of here," she said, tugging him to his feet.  
  
"Leave me..." he croaked.  
  
"No, I've got to save you."  
  
The figure tensed itself, and wouldn't budge. "You already have," it whispered through the face-plate. "Tell Luke, he was right about me..."  
  
Leia nodded, sadly, and let Kenobi lie back down beside the throne. Soon, the dark, artificial breathing ceased, and the chamber became silent. She turned to look down the steps at her brother, who was crawling towards her.  
  
"Help me take him to a shuttle," she said, stepping down towards Luke and pulling him to his feet.  
  
"Sure," Luke muttered, then hugged his sister.  
  
**  
  
The Rebel fleet began turning around and racing to the atmosphere of the dark green and brown planet below them, green lasers chasing them part way. The yellow, red, grey and all sorts of other coloured Rebel fighters weaved between each other, trying desperately to pull away from the gouts of flame shooting from hangars and windows of the Death Star battlestation. The flames were incinerating every Imperial fighter they touched.  
  
From one wide hangar, a small, tri-winged shuttle shot out, followed very closely by another huge burst of fire. The shuttle soared down towards the atmosphere of Dagobah, while behind it, the huge crater on the battlestation that the deadly super-laser was fired from exploded outwards, followed a fraction of a second later by the rest of the huge structure, the bright blast completely wiping out every piece of debris that flew from the destroyed battlestation.  
  
**  
  
On the surface of Dagobah, the twilight was falling, and another fire burned. A large mound of twigs, branches and logs intertwined to create a pyre, and resting upon it, a black, metal mass melted peacefully. Luke and Leia Skywalker held each other tightly, and watched the wisps of smoke rising from the dark, empty helmet. They glanced to their right, where another group watched the funeral with a blue, shimmering glow around them. Sitting on a log, with their father, Anakin Skywalker, to his right, was Obi-Wan Kenobi. And, sitting between them, was the smiling, not so hunched figure of Yoda.  
  
**  
  
The End.  
  
**  
  



End file.
